Capps Testifies Before Senate Committee on Safety at Diablo Canyon

Washington – Today, Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) testified about nuclear safety concerns before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a hearing titled “NRC’s Implementation of the Fukishima Near-Term Task Force Recommendations and other Actions to Enhance and Maintain Nuclear Safety.” Capps represents the 24th Congressional District, which includes Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

In her testimony, Capps pushed for thorough and rigorous oversight of Diablo Canyon, improved efforts for the collection and analysis of data by independent sources, and greater transparency and public engagement by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She also reiterated that safety at Diablo Canyon continues to be her number one priority, and that she is eager to see the results of the independent review of new seismic data collected through recent studies.

Following Capps’s testimony, the committee heard from two panels – the first included NRC commissioners, the second comprised of former State Sen. Sam Blakeslee, UC Santa Cruz lecturer Daniel Hirsch, and Nuclear Energy Institute Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Anthony Pietrangelo.

Video of the hearing can be found here.

Capps’s remarks, as prepared:

Chairwoman Boxer, Ranking Member Vitter, and members of the Committee, thank you for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to testify.

I also want to thank the NRC commissioners for being here, as well as the experts we will hear from on the second panel.

I have worked closely with the NRC over the years and appreciate your hard work on these important issues.

I am pleased you will also be hearing from my constituent and former California State Senator Sam Blakeslee.

In addition to representing Diablo Canyon and the surrounding communities for many years in Sacramento, State Senator Blakeslee is also a scientist with a Ph.D. in seismic studies, so he has unique and valuable expertise on this important issue.

I am here today because my congressional district includes the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, which generates electricity for roughly 3 million Californians.

Owned and operated by PG&E, Diablo Canyon is an important economic driver in San Luis Obispo County, supporting hundreds of quality jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity.

Also, Diablo Canyon is the only nuclear power plant in the nation operating in the highest seismic risk area, as determined by the NRC.

In the early 1970s, while the plant was originally under construction, scientists discovered the Hosgri offshore fault less than 3 miles away, forcing a major redesign of the plant and pushing the project billions of dollars over budget.

Then in 2008, scientists discovered yet another fault – the Shoreline Fault – which lies less than a mile from the plant.

As a result, seismic safety has always been a high priority at Diablo Canyon and in its surrounding communities. But the issue took on a new urgency in the wake of the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011.

That tragedy put in stark terms just how little we actually knew about the seismic situation at Diablo Canyon and the potential consequences.

I last testified before this committee in April 2011, just weeks after the Fukushima catastrophe in Japan, to call attention to these issues and push for additional seismic studies.

Since then, I have worked closely with the NRC, State Senator Blakeslee, and state officials to investigate the seismic situation at Diablo Canyon and make necessary safety improvements based on the best available information.

That’s why we pushed for additional seismic studies and independent analyses of the data.

These studies were completed earlier this year, and PG&E released its internal analysis last September.

The data is now being reviewed by the NRC and an independent peer review panel established by the California Public Utilities Commission.

I am pleased with this progress, and am eagerly awaiting the results of the independent analysis.

In my view, this independent analysis is the most critical part of this process.

Up until the release of this new data, the only seismic studies available were from internal PG&E studies and the NRC’s review of those studies.

While the NRC and PG&E certainly have well qualified experts of their own, independent analysis by outside experts is essential to the scientific process.

The stakes are simply too high for us not to do everything in our power to fully identify and understand the risks and prepare for them.

Independent analysis and transparency also helps build public confidence in the process.

The more information that is available and accessible to the public, the more our constituents can engage in the oversight process and make their voices heard.

Considering how and when these faults were discovered, many of my constituents are understandably skeptical about the NRC process and reliability of the seismic safety information they’ve been given.

Limiting independent review of or public access to information only feeds this skepticism.

Congress established the NRC to be an independent watchdog of our nuclear facilities, and the public needs to trust that the Commission is doing its job.

The best way to build that trust is through transparency and public engagement.

Yet, one of the most common complaints I hear from my constituents about this issue is a frustration with the NRC’s process and lack of transparency.

While I know the NRC makes a strong effort on several fronts to engage with the public, more clearly needs to be done to address these concerns.

Madame Chair, the Fukushima tragedy has taught us that we constantly need to be questioning our emergency preparedness and doing all we can to be ready for any scenario.

Even after the independent reviews are completed; even after the NRC finishes its review; we must not stop asking questions and demanding answers.

Because it’s often the scenario we never thought could happen that ends up causing the greatest harm.

Again, thank you for holding this hearing, and I look forward to continuing to work with this committee and the NRC on this important issue.

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