Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant
| Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 Old foundation excavation at Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant site, locally called the "Hole in the Head" | |
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| Country |
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| Coordinates | 38°18′19″N123°03′32″W/ 38.30528°N 123.05889°W |
| Status | Cancelled |
TheBodega Bay Nuclear Power Plantwas a proposedNorthern Californianuclear power facility that was stopped by localactivismin the 1960s and never built. The foundations, located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the activeSan Andreas Fault,were being dug at the time the plant was cancelled. The action has been termed "the birth of the anti-nuclear movement."
History
[edit]Pacific Gas & Electricplanned to build the first commercially viablenuclear power plantin the US atBodega Bay, California,a fishing village fifty miles north ofSan Francisco.The proposal was controversial and conflict with local citizens began in 1958.[1]
The proposed plant site is close to the San Andreas Fault, a major active tectonic boundary, and in the region's environmentally sensitive fishing and dairy industries. Bodega Head sits on thePacific Plate,while the town is on theNorth American Plate.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.[2]
Bodega Bay residentRose Gaffney,who owned acreage on the Bodega Head that PG&E needed to buy, sued the utility company to keep her land and invited government officials to see the fault lines on the proposed nuclear site.[3]TheSierra Clubbecame actively involved and opposed the choice of the site.[4]The Secretary of the Interior,Stewart Udall,said he was "gravely concerned" about the Bodega site.[5]
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 ofstrontium 90oriodine 131."These two substances had reached public prominence in the debate about fallout fromnuclear weapons testing.[5][6]
The conflict ended in 1964, when, following a negative review by theAtomic Energy Commission,Pacific Gas & Electric withdrew its application and canceled plans for the plant.[2]By this point, a pit had been dug for the foundation, near the tip ofBodega Head;since the abandonment of the site, the pit has partially filled with water and become a pond, informally called the "Hole in the Head."[7]Thomas Wellocktraces the birth of theanti-nuclear movementto the controversy over Bodega Bay.[1]
An attempt by theLos Angeles Department of Water and Powerto build a nuclear power plant in Corral Canyon nearMalibu,similar to that at Bodega Bay, was abandoned in 1970.[1][2][5]
See also
[edit]
- Allens Creek Nuclear Power Plant
- Anti-nuclear movement in California
- Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978
- Energy in California
- List of articles associated with nuclear issues in California
- List of canceled nuclear plants in the United States
- Nuclear power in the United States
- Stanislaus Nuclear Power Plant
- Sundesert Nuclear Power Plant
- The Birds(1963) – an American natural horror-thriller film produced and directed byAlfred Hitchcock.Most of the film's exterior scenes were filmed around the two towns of Bodega (a small inland village) and Bodega Bay (a larger village on the bay).
References
[edit]- ^abcPaula Garb.Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978 (book review)Journal of Political Ecology,Vol 6, 1999, Retrieved 14 December 2015
- ^abcDaly, James (3 February 2015)."Nuclear Fault Line – Bodega Head".Sonoma Magazine.Santa Rosa, CA.Retrieved8 July2016.
- ^Hillinger, Charles (January 23, 1972). "'Belle of Bodega Bay': Rose Gaffney Blocked a Nuclear Power Plant and at 77 She Is Full of Fight ". Sacramento Bee.
- ^Wellock, Thomas Raymond(1998). "The Battle for Bodega Bay, 1958–1964".Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978.Madison, WI: Univ of Wisconsin Press. p.18.ISBN9780299158545.Retrieved22 September2016.
- ^abcWolfgang Rudig (1990).Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy,Longman, pp. 110–111.
- ^Jim Falk (1982).Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power,Oxford University Press, p. 94.
- ^Gobets, Sara (12 November 2014)."Revisiting the history of Bodega Bay's 'Hole in the Head'".Sonama West Herald and News.Retrieved14 December2015.