While leaving Diablo Canyon owner Pacific Gas & Electric “free” to “reopen the proceeding,” the California Public Utilities Commission found “no useful purpose” to keep open the utility’s request to recover $85 million in pursuing relicensing of the nuclear plant at the federal level. The Feb. 1 decision leaves the door open for PG&E to pursue the funding again after 2015. The utility has been seeking a 20-year license extension through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If granted, it would allow the Diablo Canyon reactors to operate until 2045. After the renewal proceeding was started at the federal commission, the March 2011 meltdowns at Fukushima Daichii’s nuclear units occurred. The judge in the CPUC case almost immediately took PG&E’s request off calendar for scheduled hearings. At the same time, PG&E was pursuing a $17 million new seismic study at the Diablo facility. That was, in part, because the Shoreline fault was revealed in 2008. That fault runs a kilometer from the plant. The utility continues to pursue another $47 million more in seismic studies for the plant. PG&E requested the federal commission avoid making any final decision on the license extension until earthquake studies are completed. The NRC complied in May 2011, but is still following through with its routine relicensing procedures and continues to inspect Diablo and file reports. Ultimately, the federal commission has no requirement, nor authority, to include seismic issues in relicensing requests, according to NRC staff.