Florida Power & Lights Turkey Point is a nuclear power plant.
Miami Herald file, 2016,
The federal government made an unusual decision to reverse its decision to allow Turkey Point’s nuclear power plant to continue operating until mid-century. It also ordered a review of the potential environmental risks associated to its operation along southern Biscayne bay.
Monday’s Nuclear Regulatory Commissions order is a reversal of a 2019 decision of the previous commission to extend Florida Power & Lights operating licence for the two reactors for an unprecedented 80 year period, 2052 for one reactor and 2053 the other. FPL submitted an earlier environmental impact statement when it was granted a 20-year extension. The agency that oversees nuclear power plants in the country accepted it.
The new decision won’t have an immediate impact on the operation or maintenance of a large bayside facility that supplies most of South Florida with electricity. FPL’s previous 20-year extension ran until 2032 and 2033, respectively, for the respective reactors.
However, it gives environmentalists who challenged the 2019 decision a second chance to address their concerns that federal regulators did not adequately consider climate change and sea level rise-driven flooding risks when granting the previous extension.
After the staff has completed a new site-specific environment impact statement, the NRC will issue an opportunity for hearings. The commission sent a document outlining the next steps. According to a spokesperson for the NRC, after utilities submit their own environmental impact statement, technical staff from the NRC uses that document to examine the utility and then create a draft of the environmental impact statement. The draft will be available for public comment before the NRC finalizes it and decides on the extension request.
The NRC also instructed its staff to amend the expiration of operating licenses back to 2032/2033 and asked FPL to submit its opinion by March 31 on the practical implications of the decision.
FPL, which has always defended the safety and operation of reactors that were first put online in the 1970s, and has argued against rising sea levels and other climate factors, didn’t immediately respond to a request.
While the Turkey Point decision was not unusual, it was not the only reversal by the agency. The commission’s decision also nullifies a license extension for Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom nuclear power plant. This is part of a trend by the President Joe Biden-appointed Commission, which revisits decisions made by the former President Donald Trump-appointed Commission.
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ senior global security analyst Edwin Lyman called the order a very significant development.
He said that it is important to look at all issues in a new light and not get caught up in one particular issue, such as the extension of licenses for another 20-year period. They must look at the whole picture, particularly in light of recent developments in climate change and other relevant issues.
This story was originally published in February 24, 2022 at 2:49 p.m.
Alex Harris covers climate change at the Miami Herald. He also discusses how South Florida communities are adapting in the face of the rising temperatures. She studied at the University of Florida.
