Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant was proposed but never built.
Pacific Gas & Electric planned to build the first commercially viable nuclear power plant
in the USA at Bodega Bay, California
, a fishing village fifty miles north of San Francisco. The proposal was controversial and conflict with local citizens began in 1958.
The proposed plant site was right on the San Andreas fault
and close to the region's environmentally sensitive fishing and dairy industries. Fishermen feared that the "plant's location and thermal discharge would interfere with their livelihood". Other citizens did not want their "simple isolated lifestyle" disturbed. The Sierra Club
became actively involved and opposed the choice of the site. The Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall
, said he was "gravely concerned" about the Bodega site.
The Northern California Association to Preserve Bodega Head (NCAPBH) was formed and released press statements and submitted appeals to various state and federal bodies. In June 1963, NCAPBH organized a public meeting and 1,500 helium balloons were released into the air. They carried the message "This balloon could represent a radioactive molecule of strontium 90 or iodine 131". These two substances had reached public prominence in the debate about fallout from nuclear weapons testing.
The conflict ended in 1964, with the forced abandonment of plans for the power plant. Thomas Wellock
traces the birth of the anti-nuclear movement
to the controversy over Bodega Bay.
Attempts to build a nuclear power plant in Malibu were similar to those at Bodega Bay and were also abandoned.
Pacific Gas & Electric planned to build the first commercially viable nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in the USA at Bodega Bay, California
Bodega Bay, California
Bodega Bay is a town and census-designated place in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern side of Bodega Harbor, an inlet of Bodega Bay on the Pacific coast....
, a fishing village fifty miles north of San Francisco. The proposal was controversial and conflict with local citizens began in 1958.
The proposed plant site was right on the San Andreas fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
and close to the region's environmentally sensitive fishing and dairy industries. Fishermen feared that the "plant's location and thermal discharge would interfere with their livelihood". Other citizens did not want their "simple isolated lifestyle" disturbed. The Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
became actively involved and opposed the choice of the site. The Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall
Stewart Udall
Stewart Lee Udall was an American politician. After serving three terms as a congressman from Arizona, he served as Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969, under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B...
, said he was "gravely concerned" about the Bodega site.
The Northern California Association to Preserve Bodega Head (NCAPBH) was formed and released press statements and submitted appeals to various state and federal bodies. In June 1963, NCAPBH organized a public meeting and 1,500 helium balloons were released into the air. They carried the message "This balloon could represent a radioactive molecule of strontium 90 or iodine 131". These two substances had reached public prominence in the debate about fallout from nuclear weapons testing.
The conflict ended in 1964, with the forced abandonment of plans for the power plant. Thomas Wellock
Thomas Wellock
Thomas Wellock is the historian for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Trained as both an engineer and a historian, he writes scholarly histories of the regulation of commercial nuclear energy....
traces the birth of the anti-nuclear movement
Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
The anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,...
to the controversy over Bodega Bay.
Attempts to build a nuclear power plant in Malibu were similar to those at Bodega Bay and were also abandoned.
See also
- Anti-nuclear movement in CaliforniaAnti-nuclear movement in CaliforniaThe 1970s proved to be a pivotal period for the anti-nuclear movement in California. Opposition to nuclear power in California coincided with the growth of the country's environmental movement...
- Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958-1978Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958-1978Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958-1978 is the first detailed history of the anti-nuclear movement in the United States, written by Thomas Wellock. It is also the first state-level research on the subject with a focus on California...
- Energy use in CaliforniaEnergy use in CaliforniaCalifornia, as the most populous U.S. state and home of Silicon Valley, is one of the country's largest users of energy, but because of a mild climate it has one of the lowest per-capita energy uses within the U.S.-Resources and consumption:...
- Nuclear power in the United States
- Sundesert Nuclear Power PlantSundesert Nuclear Power PlantThe Sundesert Nuclear Power Plant was proposed in the 1970s but never built. In 1977 the San Diego Gas & Electric Company submitted an application to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct two 974 MWe Westinghouse pressurized water reactors approximately 15 miles southwest of...
- Stanislaus Nuclear Power PlantStanislaus Nuclear Power PlantStanislaus Nuclear Power Plant was proposed by Pacific Gas & Electric in 1971 as two GE 1,200 MW units, but the project was canceled in 1979.A total of 63 nuclear units were canceled in the USA between 1975 and 1980.-See also:*Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant...
- Allens Creek Nuclear Power PlantAllens Creek Nuclear Power PlantThe Allens Creek Nuclear Power Plant was a proposed nuclear power plant to be located at Wallis, Texas, less than 50 miles from the western edge of Houston...
- List of canceled nuclear plants in the United States