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Description
Rural to urban migration and expanding urban populations have resulted in increased population density, pressures on local land use, and an increased need for low-carbon energy production. Nuclear energy is one of the most efficient ways to provide consistent low-carbon energy, but this process creates nuclear waste– a permanent environmental hazard. The lack of permanent nuclear waste storage presents unprecedented health and environmental implications for communities nationwide, posing a challenge for planners in ensuring equitable environmental protection for residents. In California, there are three decommissioned nuclear power plant sites - SONGS, Alameda, and Humboldt. The objective of this study was to determine the racial and socioeconomic demographics of the communities within three nuclear exposure-based buffer zones (1.8, 12.4, and 18.6 miles) around California’s decommissioned nuclear sites to determine what sites and populations are most vulnerable to health and environmental risks resulting from a lack of permanent nuclear storage. This work uses data from the United States Census to estimate sociodemographic conditions and CalEnviroScreen (CES) scores to estimate overall environmental justice burdens. I perform aerial apportionment of these data in buffers around nuclear sites to quantify the mix of resident characteristics near these sites. For SONGS, Alameda, and Humboldt, the CES scores in the 1.8-mile buffer zones (24.9, 6.3, and 23.6) were very close to, or lower than, the CES scores in the broader communities (22.9, 21.7, and 18.6), respectively. While median household incomes in the 1.8-mile buffer zones were lower than the broader area at SONGS and Humboldt, incomes in the 12.4-mile buffers were nearly equal or higher than the broader area for all sites. The share of Hispanic and Black residents was smaller or nearly equal to the broader area for all buffer zones around each site. The results of this thesis do not suggest a significant potential for environmental injustice. While results do not find cause for significant environmental justice concern near California’s nuclear sites, further work is needed to continue to monitor land use and neighborhood characteristics around these sites.
