Pacific Gas and Electric Company declares alert at Diablo Canyon Power Plant

June 23, 2010


SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) notified county, state and federal authorities of the declaration of an Alert at its Diablo Canyon Power Plant Unit 1 near San Luis Obispo, California.

 

An Alert is declared for an actual or potential degradation of plant safety systems. The Alert was declared at 10:56 AM on Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Carbon dioxide was released into a plant area during a planned test. The release of carbon dioxide reached a level that would have proven harmful to operators had they been required to enter the area.

 

There have been no reports of injury.

 

At this time there is no release of radioactive material to the environment from this event, as indicated by sensitive plant radiation monitors.

 

Under NRC regulations, nuclear power plants are permitted to release very small amounts of radioactive material during operations, which have no public impact. These releases are strictly limited, measured, and below naturally occurring background levels of radiation which are present throughout the environment and can be measured anywhere.

 

Unit 1 and 2 are currently operating at 100 percent power.

 

DCPP is a nuclear power plant owned and operated by PG&E. Its two units together produce 2,300 net megawatts of greenhouse-gas-free electricity, about 10 percent of all electricity generated in California, and enough to meet the needs of over three million homes in central and northern California.

 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in northern and central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/about/.