By Jim Saunders ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — As the state looks at expanding the use of nuclear energy, Florida Power & Light has received federal approval to continue operating its Turkey Point nuclear plant in Miami-Dade County into the 2050s.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week approved license renewals that will allow Turkey Point reactors, known as Unit 3 and Unit 4, to continue operating until 2052 and 2053, respectively, according to the commission and the utility. Unit 3 began operating in 1972, while Unit 4 began in 1973.
“This approval demonstrates our commitment to working with stakeholders to ensure that we can continue to deliver safe, reliable and clean energy to our customers for decades to come,” Armando Pimentel, FPL president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. “Turkey Point is an integral part of the local economy and an essential part of FPL’s fuel mix.”
The commission in 2019 initially approved license extensions until 2052 and 2053. But in 2022, the commission “determined that the staff’s environmental review of the Turkey Point … application was inadequate,” according to a letter Tuesday from the commission to FPL.
The commission directed staff members in 2022 to conduct an additional environmental review, with license expiration dates set at 2032 and 2033 while the review took place. Tuesday’s letter said the review had been completed and that extension of the licenses to 2052 and 2053 was approved.
“The NRC’s action follows completion of a supplemental environmental review to comply with a 2022 order from the commission,” the federal agency said in a news release. “Several environmental groups requested a hearing on this environmental review. After consideration of these hearing requests, the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board terminated this adjudicatory proceeding in August, concluding that no contested matters remained before it for resolution.”
The approval comes as state lawmakers and regulators look at the possibility of adding nuclear power after decades without new reactors coming online.
After lawmakers this year required a study on the feasibility of an expansion, Florida Public Service Commission staff members have started analyzing the use of “advanced” nuclear technology. Such technology could involve large power plants, but it also could involve small reactors that might be used by the military or industries.
The Public Service Commission is supposed to submit a report by April.
FPL has already cleared some regulatory hurdles toward possibly building two more reactors at Turkey Point. In 2018, for example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved what are known as “combined operating licenses” for the potential new reactors.
The utility, however, has not moved forward with building the reactors. It files quarterly reports with the Public Service Commission about potential joint ownership with other utilities of what would be known as Turkey Point Unit 6 and Unit 7.
In a June 28 report, FPL said it has continued “good-faith discussions” with organizations representing municipal utilities, the Orlando Utilities Commission and Seminole Electric Cooperative.
Also, the utility said in a news release Thursday that its St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is going through a license-renewal application process.
Nuclear plants generate about 13 percent of Florida’s electricity, according to a state House analysis. But the state hasn’t had new nuclear plants since the 1970s and 1980s, and Duke Energy Florida decided in 2013 to permanently shut down a Crystal River nuclear plant that had sustained damage in a containment building.
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