Newsom signs nuclear energy bill promoting fusion, which critics say is decades away

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law this week that deal with the development of nuclear energy sources in California, pushing forward an effort to increase sources of clean energy in the last months of his term.

One, Senate Bill 925, authored by Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, requires the state to formulate a plan to develop nuclear fusion energy development facilities. The report detailing the plan is due to the Legislature by Dec. 31, 2029, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

That plan would have to include strategies for expanding and developing fusion research in the state, developing commercialization of fusion energy, creating a regulatory framework for fusion energy, permitting and licensing, and assessing the levels of fusion energy needed for California to meet its long-term renewable energy and greenhouse emissions goals.

“I’ve always been a big promoter of fusion energy because it has so many benefits,” McNerney told The Center Square on Friday. “The drawbacks, the waste and the risk of accidents is so low that it’s an ideal source. Of course, we have to develop the technology for that to happen.”

That means producing strong enough magnets to be able to hold the fusion together, producing materials to absorb neutrons and not be damaged and produce vast amounts of energy in a short time frame, McNerney said.

“All this is infrastructure,” McNerney said. “We need to develop that infrastructure here so we can produce this technology. That means jobs; it means economic growth for the state of California.”

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, fusion energy occurs when two atoms are combined to produce a heavier atom. This is different from fission energy, which is the type of nuclear reaction currently used to power nuclear energy. In fission, atoms are split to create two new atoms, producing radioactivity. The radioactive effect is what can make fission nuclear energy so dangerous, as noted by critics of nuclear energy development.

“Fusion has inherent benefits that fission does not,” Haakon Williams, the CEO of The Committee to Bridge the Gap, told The Center Square on Friday. “One of the core problems with fission-based nuclear technologies is that the fission reaction is self-sustaining, and without a constant, never-ceasing ability to cool the fuel, you have the self-sustaining fission reaction that leads to excessive heat and melting down of the fuel, and a release of radioactivity. With fusion, you don’t have those problems.”

If something happens that disrupts the fusion process, like an earthquake or terrorist attack, the fusion just stops on its own, Williams said.

“The problem with fusion is that fusion energy is 30 years away and always will be,” Williams said. “The technology is not mature enough for commercial deployment. My understanding of it is that fusion is closer than ever to being viable, but the main developments you see on fusion in recent years amount to an incremental increase in the amount of time you are able to sustain the fusion.”

The California Energy Commission, which will oversee the report to the Legislature under the new law, will have to hire multiple new staff members to complete the work, the bill analysis says. The state will spend roughly $1.1 million of taxpayer funds to hire five new staff members of the commission and an additional $500,000 in contract work. Nine additional staff members will be hired to form a new unit that would work on permitting for fusion energy projects, costing the commission $2 million annually.

Another bill Newsom signed into law this week, Assembly Bill 2647, authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, tasks the California Energy Commission with assessing the role of nuclear energy development in powering the state’s critical infrastructure and determining if new nuclear energy plants could help power the state’s increase in electricity demand in the coming years. The bill also aimed to meet the state’s 100% zero-carbon electricity production goals by 2045, according to the bill analysis.

“California is leading the nation in building a reliable, clean energy future while ensuring the state is ready to harness emerging technologies that can strengthen that progress,” Anthony Martinez, deputy communications director for Newsom’s office, wrote to The Center Square in an email on Friday. “California is also currently incorporating fusion into its energy future through the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Initiative administered by the California Energy Commission. In the meantime, California's fusion and quantum research is already drawing private investment and creating good-paying jobs.”

The only operational nuclear power plant in California is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, which is owned by PG&E and is located near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, north of Santa Barbara. That plant operates at a deficit, costing PG&E’s ratepayers nine figures a year despite public subsidies to help offset the cost.

According to documents filed with the California Public Utilities Commission by the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, PG&E has sought approval from the state to extend operations on the Diablo Canyon plant through 2030, costing roughly $11.8 billion. That is up from $8.1 billion forecast by PG&E in 2023, the documents show.

Two other nuclear power plants, the PG&E’s Humboldt Bay plant and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Rancho Seco plant, were decommissioned. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, owned by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, closed in 2012 for repairs and never reopened. Decommissioning that plant cost $4.5 billion, according to the bill analysis for AB 2647.

Calderon did not respond to The Center Square for this story.