Italy recently became the fourth nation to pledge to phase out nuclear power since Japan’s Fukushima disaster. Italy accomplished this feat by a popular referendum, soon after Germany did the same in its legislature (Bundestag). Switzerland has also agreed to a phase-out and Japan itself has agreed to phase out much of its nuclear capacity in favor of renewables and natural gas.
Should California do the same? Could it do the same?
California has effectively banned new nuclear plants in the state since the 1970s due to a law requiring that there be an effective federal nuclear waste disposal facility before any new plants are built in California. And despite efforts to create a federal waste facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and other places, the U.S. is still far from completing any such facility.