Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, California

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant is the last remaining active nuclear power plant in California. It is located in Avila Beach, north of Pismo Beach, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, from which it draws its cooling water. It is home to two pressurized water reactors, and is owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Unit 1 has an output capacity of 1,084MW, while Unit 2 has an output capacity of 1,106MW. Unit 1's operating license was issued in 1984, while Unit 2's operating license was issued in 1985. PG&E has announced its intention to close the plant by 2025. Also to be found on-site is an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), where spent nuclear fuel rods and other radioactive materials are stored in aboveground dry casks 310 feet above sea level. Though Diablo was the implied setting for the 1979 film China Syndrome, it was not filmed there (though the plant had mostly been built by 1979, it did not go online for a few more years after that). Exteriors were shot at the Scattergood Power Plant, in El Segundo, and the interior control room was a set built at the Sunset-Gower studios in Hollywood. The film had almost as profound an effect on public opinion about nuclear power as the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania did, which occurred 12 days after the film was released.