NiCE Club @ UC Berkeley

Diablo Canyon Tour - 2 May 2025

Notes from the meeting:

  • The NiCE club brought 28 students to Diablo Canyon
  • The trip was fully funded by anonymous donors
  • The NiCE club hopes to make this pilgrimage an annual event!
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Picture of the group in front of the security building.

Additional notes from the trip

The NiCE club departed from Berkeley on Thursday afternoon, May 1, during dead week. After a four hour drive, the group arrived at the Olive Tree Inn at San Luis Obispo. The group woke the next morning around 7am, ate a mixture of eggs and bagels, and departed to the Port San Luis Boatyard to meet with Dylan George of PG&E. The group then convoyed into the DCPP security area along the 7 mile road from the boatyard to the plant. The group received a security briefing and split into two groups for the turbine tour and the site tour. Since the Unit 1 reactor was undergoing maintenance, the NiCE club was only allowed to take 20 people into the security area while the rest of the participants traveled around the site to see the wild life of the area. The turbine tour started in the white and black office building where the group received PPE and left their phones (no photos allowed in the turbine hall). The group then walked through the skybridge between the office building and the red turbine building. The group was escorted by PG&E employees the entire time as we were not allowed to wander alone. The group first saw the Unit 2 turbine at the South end of the turbine building. The Unit 2 turbine was made up of three low pressure turbines and one high pressure turbine. At the middle of the turbine hall, the floor was sectioned off as the Unit 1 turbine was being completely disassembled for refurbishment. All of the blade assemblies had been disconnected from the turbine rotor and were staged around the turbine hall for later reassembly. The group then took a peek into the control room through the security door and later traveled to the control room simulator. The steam condensers were located directly below the turbines and were the last stop of the turbine tour. The group then left the security area and met with the land tour group for lunch in the training office building. Following the tour, the NiCE club traveled to a nearby country club and met with other plant staff and nuclear advocacy groups based in the SLO area. The club drove back to Berkeley the following day on May 3rd.