Lawsuit challenges $1 billion in federal funding to sustain California's last nuclear power plant

An environmental group is challenging the U.S. Energy Department's decision to award over $1 billion to help keep California’s last nuclear power plant running beyond 2025. A lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth in federal court in Los Angeles opens another battlefront in the fight over the future of Diablo Canyon’s twin reactors. The group says awarding the money to Pacific Gas & Electric was based on an analysis that fails to recognize potential safety risks. A deal to shutter the plant was voided after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom stepped in, saying power from the nuclear plant is needed to ward off blackouts.