I was approached by the Marine Mammal Center about the decommission process. As you may know, MMC operates facilities to rescue, rehabilitate, and release marine mammals. (They have treated over 20,000 marine mammals including sea lions, seals, and otters in its over 40-year history.) MMC has operations in Morro Bay and Monterey, which act as triage units for emergency care before animals are taken way up to Saucelito where the main hospital is located. Interestingly, PG&E and MMC have had a successful partnership along the way – PG&E even features the organization in some of its commercials (you can google/youtube that, or I can send you a clip if you’d like). The Marine Mammal Center has been exploring options for a future new hospital facility along the Central Coast -- consistent with their five year strategic plan to build out satellite facilities to provide more local, urgent rehabilitation care and to incorporate more public engagement and education. They considered the now-defunct sea lion “aquarium” in Morro Bay but the space is too small. In reviewing the decommissioning process, they saw a potential, excellent fit with the facilities at Diablo Canyon. The intake of salt water is key to their operations (they have to “make” salt water up in Saucelito). The inlet cove would be idea to intake injured/sick animals by boat, and also would serve as an excellent release area (as would the outlet cove). Existing facilities on the site could serve as the hospital itself. Also, they have been talking with Cal Poly recently about partnerships for marine research -- and I believe Cal Poly too has expressed an interest in the Diablo site, including marine environment. They also see a potentially rewarding partnership with State Parks, given the site’s proximity to Montana de Oro. Lots of potentially good matches/collaborations there. Finally, MMC has been able to raise multiple millions of dollars to construct and operate its hospital in Saucelito – they have a strong fundraising capacity (as well as a potential base of wealthy donors in the Bay Area) that could be tapped into for renovations and other tasks necessary to create and operate a central coast animal care facility. I am hoping that we can explore this option as a potential excellent fit for reuse of one of the existing buildings, and to make another case for keeping the breakwater intact (rather than dismantling it after the plant closes). Do you have any suggestions about how to go forward with this? Are the panel members generally open to exploring this idea? If this idea is worth exploring, might we consider working with PG&E to set up a tour of the plant and environs with key representatives from MMC?

For consideration by the Panel at an appropriate time, a concept for a future use of the nuclear facility was sent to me by a Nuclear Engineer who worked at Diablo for 25 years:“I believe it is in the best interest of California to seriously entertain the concept that DCPP be converted to an Interim Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Facillity. That is, to re-fit both DCPP’s containment structures to house the spent fuel relocated from the DCPP dry cask storage area, the PG&E Humbolt Bay ‘safe store’ spent fuel area, the San Onofre power plant, and the Rancho Seco [Sacramento area] power plant. That basically means that the DOE (Dept of Energy) takes ownership of the site.I can elaborate in more detail at a later date.”

Presentation at 9/14/2018 Facility Repurposing Workshop. Please see workshop video.

It is imperative to repurpose the extensive infrastructure on site to the greatest extent practicable... Substation especially

Tribal rights on Diablo Land are very important. The Chumash lived on these lands for centuries, and their rights have often been neglected. That said, it's important that these lands be protected for everyone, today and forever. Thus I strongly urge that any land transfers to tribes be accompanied with conservation easements that protect the natural resources of the land and prohibit development or commercial uses.