“Feb 3 (Reuters) – Nearly 80 scientists and academics, including a former U.S. energy secretary, on Thursday urged Governor Gavin Newsom to delay closure of California’s remaining nuclear plant to comply with state laws on fighting global warming.
‘The threat of climate change is too real and too pressing to leap before we look,’ said a letter to Newsom from Steven Chu, a former U.S. energy secretary, and the others. ‘Considering our climate crisis, closing the plant is not only irresponsible, the consequences could be catastrophic.’
The letter was organized by Isabelle Boemeke, a model and founder and executive director of Save Clean Energy, a nonprofit group that promotes the emissions benefits of nuclear power.
Faced with rising costs for operating the plant’s two reactors, the utility PG&E (PCG.N) decided in 2016 to allow their licenses to expire in 2024 and 2025, which would close the last nuclear plant in the nation’s most populous state.”