User:PParmley/PG&E History part 5. draft

Nuclear plants and gas pipelines
In 1957, the company brought the first privately owned and operated nuclear reactor in the United States online in Pleasanton, California. The reactor initially produced 5,000 kilowatts of power, enough to power a town of 12,000.

In addition to nuclear power, PG&E continued to develop natural gas supplies as well. In 1959, the company began working to obtain approval for the import of a large quantity of natural gas from Alberta, Canada to California, via a pipeline constructed by Westcoast Transmission Co. and the Alberta and Southern Gas Company on the Canadian side, and by Pacific Gas Transmission Company, a subsidiary of PG&E, on the U.S. side. Construction of the pipeline lasted 14 months. Testing began in 1961, and the completed 1,400-mile pipeline was dedicated in early 1962.

PG&E began construction on another nuclear facility, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, in 1968. Originally slated to come online in 1979, the plant's opening was delayed for several years due to environmental protests and concerns over the safety of the plant’s construction. Testing of the plant began in 1984, and energy production was brought up to full power in 1985.

During the construction of the Diablo Canyon plant, PG&E continued its efforts to bring natural gas supplies from the North to their service area in California. In 1972, the company began exploring possibilities for a 3,000-mile pipeline from Alaska, which would travel through the Mackenzie River Valley and on to join with the previously constructed pipeline originating in Alberta.

In 1977 the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project received approval from the U.S. Federal Power Commission and support from the Carter Administration. The pipeline still required approval from Canada, however. Plans for the pipeline were placed on hold in 1977 by a Canadian judge. Justice Thomas R. Berger of British Columbia shelved the project for at least 10 years, citing concerns from First Nations groups, whose land the pipeline would have traversed, as well as potential environmental impacts.