The backer of a ballot initiative to shut down California’s nuclear plants filed with the state Attorney General Sept. 28 for an official title and summary. The proposed measure was approved for signature collection by the state May 23. “My plan for signatures is focused on getting an honest and fair fiscal analysis,” noted sponsor Ben Davis Jr. He said that process could begin this week. “If I fail at getting such an analysis, whether I go ahead with the petition drive is questionable as it will be hard to get grass-roots support,” he added. In order to get to the ballot, the initiative requires 504,760 signatures. The initial analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, reported that passing the measure could cost the state $4 billion and lead to blackouts. The California Independent System Operator said that if the ballot measure passes, grid reliability would be a factor. Davis and other environmentalists claim that the financial risk of keeping nuclear plants running with potential accidents and radioactive releases is the true cost. “In balancing the benefits and risks associated with energy production, nuclear fission is the least desirable means of producing electrical energy available in the State of California,” reads the initiative. For instance, Japan’s government announced that it found highly radioactive bits of plutonium far away from the containment building Oct. 1--seven months after the Fukushima Daiichi explosions and meltdowns. Davis doesn’t expect the initiative to be cleared by the Secretary of State before the end of the year. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintains California’s nuclear facilities can be run safely, although it recognizes the potential for earthquakes to influence the plants. In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, the commission and staff have held a series of meetings to find how to apply “lessons” learned from the meltdowns in Japan. The commission plans investigations, called “walk downs” for California and other earthquake-prone nuclear plants. A walk down “means NRC inspectors physically ‘walk down’ every piece of piping in the system” to attest to its integrity, according to the commission.