LOS ANGELES (AP) — Environmental groups called on federal regulators Thursday to immediately shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant until tests can be conducted on critical machinery they believe could fail and cause a catastrophe. “We will not sit idly by while PG&E cuts corners on Unit 1’s safety,” Hallie Templeton, legal director for Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. Friends of the Earth, a longtime critic of plant safety, was a central player in negotiating the 2016 closing agreement. He noted that unlike most other reactor safety components, the pressure vessel has no independent backup system that can be called upon if it should crack or fracture and lose essential cooling water. According to the NRC, embrittlement occurs as a result of reactor operation when neutrons from the nuclear fuel irradiate the steel plates and welds used to construct the reactor vessel.

---

Persons: Peace, “, ” Hallie Templeton, Suzanne Hosn, ” Hosn, Gavin Newsom, Digby Macdonald, ”, Macdonald, ” Macdonald, Critics, Newsom, it’s Organizations: ANGELES, —, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Pacific Gas &, Democratic, University of California, NRC Locations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, California, Washington, Berkeley