Florida Power & Light makes pitch for license renewals at nuclear plants

By Joseph Mann, South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- July 16

Florida Power & Light Co. will invest about $1 billion over the next 5 to 7 years as it renews the licenses on its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants, said J. A. Stall, FPL's senior vice president for nuclear operations.

Stall and other top executives of FPL's nuclear operations gave six members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission a technical status report on the group's three nuclear power complexes Thursday in Juno Beach. They stressed improvements made over the last 18 months in preventive maintenance programs, plant upgrades as well as changes in training programs, personnel and communications with employees.

FPL, a unit of Juno Beach-based FPL Group Inc., owns and operates nuclear plants at Turkey Point and St. Lucie, and its sister company, FPL Energy Inc., operates the Seabrook nuclear generating facility in New Hampshire.

FPL outlined plans for investments in new equipment and plant upgrades, including the temporary shutdown of Turkey Point reactor No. 3 this fall for a scheduled refueling and replacement of its reactor vessel head, a key component. In addition, it plans to replace two other reactor vessel heads, one at Turkey Point Unit No. 4 and the other at St. Lucie Unit No. 1, during scheduled refuelings over the next 18 months.

FPL nuclear officials, who invite members of the NRC to a briefing each year, pointed to gains such as a lower incidence of reportable work-related accidents this year, the successful refueling of St. Lucie's No. 1 unit and increased efforts to lower preventive maintenance backlogs. FPL also improved training and oversight of security personnel contracted from Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut Corp. Earlier this year, four Wackenhut security guards working at the St. Lucie plant were placed on leave and three resigned after FPL discovered the personnel failed to complete their patrols.

The NRC team was headed by two regional administrators: William Travers, Administrator for Region II, which covers Florida, and Hubert Miller, Administrator for Region I, which includes New Hampshire.

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