Tsunami warnings March 11 on the California coast at press time resulted in evacuation of the Humboldt Bay 163 MW fossil-fuel plant, according to the California Independent System Operator. A retired nuclear plant with high-level radioactive waste also is on the Humboldt site. Pacific Gas & Electric, Humboldt's owner, also notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant near San Luis Obispo may be in the tsunami's path. At 6:30 a.m. the National Weather Service issued an evacuation notice for the area at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant's site. A PG&E spokesperson said the utility did not plan to curtail the plant's operation. While much of the California coast is on alert, a Southern California Edison spokesperson said that the utility's nuclear plant at San Onofre is not being evacuated. Edison noted that the plant has a 30-foot tsunami wall to blunt wave force. Dynegy, which owns coastal plants in the tsunami warning vicinity, noted that it is not shutting down facilities.
