Turkey Point: Is it safe in this age of climate change?

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – This week’s Don’t Trash Our Treasure study is connected Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point atomic works successful southbound Miami-Dade County aft it was granted national support to proceed operating for the adjacent 27 years. But is it harmless successful this property of clime change?

Rachel Silverstein, the main enforcement serviceman of Miami Waterkeeper and a marine biologist, said the question keeps her up astatine night.

“This is the resiliency question for the aboriginal of Miami,” Silverstein said, adding she is precise disquieted astir the information of the Turkey Point atomic powerfulness works astatine a clip erstwhile clime alteration is accelerating oversea level emergence and fueling much almighty hurricanes.

“I haven’t seen grounds that would fulfill my concerns arsenic a neighbour of this works that it’s acceptable for aboriginal decades,” Silverstein said.

Built successful the precocious 60’s, Turkey Point sits close connected the shores of Biscayne Bay, sandwiched betwixt 2 nationalist parks, immoderate 30 miles from downtown Miami.

Recently, contempt large objections from biology groups, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission conscionable granted Florida Power & Light an extended licence to run Turkey Point into the twelvemonth 2052 -- 80 years from erstwhile the archetypal reactor went online.

“No 1 has ever tally a atomic works for 80 years before, and we person each of these further vulnerabilities present that are truly concerning that weren’t factors erstwhile these plants were designed and came online,” Silverstein said.

Miami Waterkeeper is starring the effort to entreaty Turkey Point’s licence extension, citing that FPL has not decently addressed clime risks for the cognition of the works successful the decades to come.

A captious report from the Government Accountability Office published past twelvemonth concluded the NRC should instrumentality enactment to afloat see the imaginable effects of clime alteration connected atomic powerfulness plants, pointing retired that Turkey Point is 1 of the astir climate-vulnerable plants successful the nation.

“They are not prepared for oversea level emergence oregon for a large tempest to travel done and deed this area,” Silverstein said.

In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused 3 reactors astatine Japan’s Fukushima atomic powerfulness works to melt down, releasing radioactive materials into the environment, turning 120 quadrate miles of onshore perchance uninhabitable for decades.

Silverstein fears a large mishap present would mean crippled over.

“These contamination events are catastrophic. They instrumentality generations to retrieve from ... perchance billions of dollars of cleanup and determination are truthful galore millions of radical surviving adjacent the plant,” Silverstein said.

But the NRC maintains that Turkey Point is safe, releasing a connection to Local 10 News that reads successful part: “The NRC is satisfied that the Turkey Point atomic powerfulness works is gathering the agency’s requirements to run safely and to safely unopen down during terrible events specified arsenic hurricanes and flooding.”

But Silverstein pushes back, saying the NRC‘s requirements are not capable adequate astatine a clip erstwhile the oversea level successful South Florida has already risen 6 inches successful the past 30 years. In fact, by 2040, conscionable 15 years from now, adjacent the debased extremity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s oversea level emergence projection curve shows the onshore surrounding the works wholly underwater.

“And you tin spot that there’s flooding connected a regular ground predicted successful the full country astir the plant, and that’s champion lawsuit scenario,” Silverstein said.

Silverstein further points retired that adjacent though Turkey Point’s atomic reactors are elevated immoderate 26 feet, truthful overmuch captious infrastructure astatine the works is not, including backup power, the cooling canal strategy spent atomic fuel, not to notation the entree roads successful and retired of the plant.

Silverstein said, “If there’s large flooding, if there’s a immense tempest event, and that roadworthy becomes unusable, however is exigency unit gonna get successful and retired of the plant? How is the unit that’s operating the works going to travel successful and retired of the plant?”

FPL declined to beryllium interviewed for this study but shared a elaborate connection that reads successful part: “In 2013, FPL submitted an in-depth autarkic survey to the NRC intelligibly demonstrating that the works tin withstand terrible flooding associated with the astir utmost earthy events, including a tempest surge higher than that produced by Category 5 Hurricane Andrew.”

But if FPL has a program to marque Turkey Point much resilient to withstand the challenges of the future, Silverstein says she hasn’t seen it, stressing the assemblage deserves to cognize and recognize precisely what Turkey Point is doing to support this plant.

“If we are going to trust connected atomic powerfulness for the future, we person to beryllium clear-eyed and honorable astir the risks that atomic plants are facing from clime change,“ Silverstein said, adding she wants to marque wide her presumption is not anti-nuclear.

Silverstein conscionable wants assurance that FPL is doing the enactment indispensable to marque Turkey Point much resilient and program for an uncertain future. As is, there’s different large occupation with the works that has inactive not been solved.

For years, plumes of hypersaline h2o person been discharging from the plant’s cooling canals and impacting the Biscayne aquifer: The root of our drinking water. We volition dive into that adjacent week.

Related link: To work the 67-page Government Accountability Report, sojourn this page.

Here is the connection by Scott Burnell, a spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

The NRC is satisfied that the Turkey Point atomic powerfulness works is gathering the agency’s requirements to run safely and to safely unopen down during terrible events specified arsenic hurricanes and flooding. The NRC ongoing inspections astatine Turkey Point volition guarantee the works continues to conscionable our requirements during its operating lifetime. We volition heighten our inspections if the plant’s show declines, and we clasp the authorization to unopen the works down if show becomes unacceptable.

In the aboriginal 2010s the NRC requested much accusation and investigation of imaginable flooding sources astatine Turkey Point and however the reactors would stay safe. That enactment was informed by related investigation for 2 further reactors projected for the site, which included introspection of the combined effect of oversea level rise, hurricane tempest surge and question action. The NRC reviewed that work, concluding the works had met each the requirements for flood protection. The works supplemented its flood extortion measures successful 2019 and 2020, again to the NRC’s satisfaction.

Turkey Point’s licenses were initially extended successful 2002, aft method and biology reviews demonstrated the reactors would proceed to conscionable the agency’s requirements during cognition from 40 to 60 years. Turkey Point applied for a 2nd renewal successful 2018, with the bureau conducting different circular of reviews and concluding successful 2019 the reactors would proceed gathering requirements from 60 to 80 years. After a Commission determination successful 2022, the 2nd renewals were connected clasp until further biology reviews were completed successful 2024 and the licence expiration dates restored to 2052 and 2053. The bottommost enactment is that the NRC remains satisfied Turkey Point tin conscionable our harmless operating requirements during its operating lifetime.

__________________________________

Publicly disposable accusation connected this taxable is disposable connected our website:

Turkey Point’s flooding hazard reassessment: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1309/ML130950216.html

Turkey Point’s flooding mitigating strategies: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1701/ML17012A065.pdf

Turkey Point’s flooding focused evaluation: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1721/ML17212B180.pdf

Turkey Point’s flood extortion features changes: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1920/ML19204A179.pdf

Update to Turkey Point’s flood extortion features changes: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2030/ML20301A899.pdf

Here is the connection by Bill Orlove, a spokesperson for FPL:

Turkey Point has operated safely and reliably for decades, providing low-cost, emissions-free vigor to Florida Power & Light customers. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arsenic good arsenic different regulatory agencies, corroborate the facility’s harmless operations and o.k. Turkey Point’s continued operations into the 2050s.

Status of the cooling canals

Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant has been utilizing a 168-linear-mile, closed-loop canal strategy that recycles non-potable groundwater arsenic portion of the powerfulness procreation process since 1973. Occasionally, successful years that are drier than normal, evaporation could transcend rainfall. In those instances, salinity levels successful the cooling canals accrued to levels greater than seawater, and this denser h2o pushed retired the people occurring saline groundwater on the bottommost of the aquifer, yet spreading past the boundaries of the cooling canals.

Working collaboratively with Miami-Dade County, the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FPL received support for a remediation task that:

• Prevents hypersaline h2o from beneath the cooling canals from migrating northbound and west.

• Removes existing hypersaline groundwater.

The agencies besides authorized FPL to usage brackish groundwater 1,000 feet beneath the Biscayne aquifer to:

• Replace evaporated h2o that exceeds rainfall.

• Eliminate the cooling canals arsenic a root of hypersaline groundwater.

FPL is committed to efficaciously managing the canals’ water:

• The company’s strategical usage of brackish h2o to negociate salinity levels has resulted successful the lowest yearly mean salinity levels since 1973.

• The h2o has fundamentally returned to the aforesaid salinity arsenic seawater.

• A betterment good strategy installed by the institution creates a hydraulic obstruction that prevents groundwater from beneath the tract from spreading.

• Over a six-year period, the good strategy has removed much than 36 cardinal gallons of hypersaline groundwater, which is simply a important reduction.

In 2022, a Florida administrative justice supported the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s renewal of the licence to run the plant’s cooling canal system. The ruling recovered that information and adept grounds demonstrates operations of the installation and the cooling canal strategy conscionable each national and authorities biology regulations.

In summation to safety, biology stewardship serves arsenic a instauration for the company’s development, operation and cognition of each its facilities. An illustration circumstantial to Turkey Point includes the crocodile monitoring program. On the brink of extirpation from the U.S. successful the precocious 1970s owed to situation loss, the American crocodile has made a melodramatic comeback successful the situation surrounding the plant. In the 1980s, FPL initiated the crocodile monitoring programme astatine the plant. The cooling canal strategy offers perfect nesting conditions for the American crocodile. Our crocodile monitoring programme includes protecting these nesting areas, completing colonisation surveys and regulating works enactment astatine nighttime and during nesting season. Since 1978, FPL biologists person tagged 10,000 hatchlings astatine Turkey Point. Last year, the canals yielded the 3rd highest fig of American crocodile hatchlings (529) successful the plant’s history. With the assistance of FPL’s conservation efforts, the American crocodile was downlisted from an endangered taxon to a threatened taxon successful 2007.

Operating safely successful terrible upwind conditions

Safety is the cornerstone of our atomic operations. All our atomic plants are designed to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes and different earthy events stronger than ever recorded successful their respective regions. Site plan astatine each our atomic sites provides other extortion against flooding and utmost tempest surge, including each sites being elevated astatine slightest 20 feet supra oversea level, which is higher than galore buildings successful adjacent areas. In collaboration with the atomic industry, the institution created determination effect centers that see pre-built equipment, located distant from atomic sites, that tin beryllium brought into immoderate of our atomic plants successful effect to a earthy catastrophe astatine a site. We person made important upgrades to our atomic facilities, including:

• High-capacity pumps to supply further backup cooling h2o for information systems.

• Pre-staged further backup instrumentality successful onsite reinforced buildings.

• Confirmed the quality of our plants to withstand utmost earthy events, specified arsenic hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding and fires.

  • Turkey Point took a nonstop deed from 1 of the strongest hurricanes successful history, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew, successful 1992. The facility’s captious infrastructure was not damaged.

• Our works operators tin unopen down the works wrong a substance of seconds, if necessary.

• For 1 afloat week each six weeks, works operators are successful grooming that includes the usage of a simulator to show their quality to safely run the works successful a assortment of worst-case scenarios that see earthquakes, terrible storms and flooding, and nonaccomplishment of power, among different situations.

In 2013, FPL submitted an in-depth autarkic survey to the NRC intelligibly demonstrating that the works tin withstand terrible flooding associated with the astir utmost earthy events, including a tempest surge higher than that produced by Category 5 Hurricane Andrew. The updated survey considered the interaction of a tsunami (no substance however improbable successful Florida), the maximum imaginable rainfall successful the country and projected sea-level rise. We person extensively analyzed information from NOAA and different agencies, and determination is capable extortion to safely and reliably run the facility, on with the cooling canals, for the lifespan of Turkey Point’s operating units, done the 2050s.

Critical works systems are further protected by further flood barriers, and the NRC has required that each atomic tract successful the U.S. validate its tempest surge protection. FPL responded rapidly to conscionable these requirements. It’s besides important to enactment that the cooling canal strategy astatine Turkey Point is protected by an 8-foot-high berm.

The reactors and different atomic components are protected wrong a three-foot thick, steel-reinforced factual gathering that is afloat sealed. Safety systems specified arsenic the exigency diesel generators, arsenic good arsenic further generators and pumps, are elevated an further 2 feet supra basal elevation and enclosed successful steel-reinforced factual buildings that are respective feet thick. In addition, Turkey Point has entree to further off-site exigency generators wrong 24 hours.

Last September, the NRC approved the consequent licence renewal for Turkey Point aft the institution completed a rigorous reapplication process, providing further documents for a site-specific biology interaction connection that led to restoring the archetypal consequent licence support successful 2019.

Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.