MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – This week’s Don’t Trash Our Treasure report is on Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point nuclear plant in south Miami-Dade County after it was granted federal approval to continue operating for the next 27 years. But is it safe in this age of climate change?
Rachel Silverstein, the chief executive officer of Miami Waterkeeper and a marine biologist, said the question keeps her up at night.
“This is the resiliency question for the future of Miami,” Silverstein said, adding she is very worried about the safety of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant at a time when climate change is accelerating sea level rise and fueling more powerful hurricanes.
“I haven’t seen evidence that would satisfy my concerns as a neighbor of this plant that it’s ready for future decades,” Silverstein said.
Built in the late 60’s, Turkey Point sits right on the shores of Biscayne Bay, sandwiched between two national parks, some 30 miles from downtown Miami.
Recently, despite loud objections from environmental groups, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission just granted Florida Power & Light an extended license to operate Turkey Point into the year 2052 -- 80 years from when the first reactor went online.
“No one has ever run a nuclear plant for 80 years before, and we have all of these additional vulnerabilities now that are really concerning that weren’t factors when these plants were designed and came online,” Silverstein said.
Miami Waterkeeper is leading the effort to appeal Turkey Point’s license extension, citing that FPL has not properly addressed climate risks for the operation of the plant in the decades to come.
A critical report from the Government Accountability Office published last year concluded the NRC should take action to fully consider the potential effects of climate change on nuclear power plants, pointing out that Turkey Point is one of the most climate-vulnerable plants in the nation.
“They are not prepared for sea level rise or for a big storm to come through and hit this area,” Silverstein said.
In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant to melt down, releasing radioactive materials into the environment, turning 120 square miles of land potentially uninhabitable for decades.
Silverstein fears a major accident here would mean game over.
“These pollution events are catastrophic. They take generations to recover from ... potentially billions of dollars of cleanup and there are so many millions of people living near the plant,” Silverstein said.
But the NRC maintains that Turkey Point is safe, releasing a statement to Local 10 News that reads in part: “The NRC is satisfied that the Turkey Point nuclear power plant is meeting the agency’s requirements to operate safely and to safely shut down during severe events such as hurricanes and flooding.”
But Silverstein pushes back, saying the NRC‘s requirements are not adequate enough at a time when the sea level in South Florida has already risen 6 inches in the last 30 years. In fact, by 2040, just 15 years from now, even the low end of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s sea level rise projection curve shows the land surrounding the plant completely underwater.
“And you can see that there’s flooding on a daily basis predicted in the whole area around the plant, and that’s best case scenario,” Silverstein said.
Silverstein further points out that even though Turkey Point’s nuclear reactors are elevated some 26 feet, so much critical infrastructure at the plant is not, including backup power, the cooling canal system spent nuclear fuel, not to mention the access roads in and out of the plant.
Silverstein said, “If there’s major flooding, if there’s a huge storm event, and that road becomes unusable, how is emergency personnel gonna get in and out of the plant? How is the staff that’s operating the plant going to come in and out of the plant?”
FPL declined to be interviewed for this report but shared a detailed statement that reads in part: “In 2013, FPL submitted an in-depth independent study to the NRC clearly demonstrating that the plant can withstand severe flooding associated with the most extreme natural events, including a storm surge higher than that produced by Category 5 Hurricane Andrew.”
But if FPL has a plan to make Turkey Point more resilient to withstand the challenges of the future, Silverstein says she hasn’t seen it, stressing the community deserves to know and understand exactly what Turkey Point is doing to protect this plant.
“If we are going to rely on nuclear power for the future, we have to be clear-eyed and honest about the risks that nuclear plants are facing from climate change,“ Silverstein said, adding she wants to make clear her position is not anti-nuclear.
Silverstein just wants assurance that FPL is doing the work necessary to make Turkey Point more resilient and plan for an uncertain future. As is, there’s another big problem with the plant that has still not been solved.
For years, plumes of hypersaline water have been discharging from the plant’s cooling canals and impacting the Biscayne aquifer: The source of our drinking water. We will dive into that next week.
Related link: To read the 67-page Government Accountability Report, visit this page.
Here is the statement by Scott Burnell, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
The NRC is satisfied that the Turkey Point nuclear power plant is meeting the agency’s requirements to operate safely and to safely shut down during severe events such as hurricanes and flooding. The NRC ongoing inspections at Turkey Point will ensure the plant continues to meet our requirements during its operating lifetime. We will enhance our inspections if the plant’s performance declines, and we retain the authority to shut the plant down if performance becomes unacceptable.
In the early 2010s the NRC requested more information and analysis of potential flooding sources at Turkey Point and how the reactors would remain safe. That work was informed by related analysis for two additional reactors proposed for the site, which included examination of the combined effect of sea level rise, hurricane storm surge and wave action. The NRC reviewed that work, concluding the plant had met all the requirements for flood protection. The plant supplemented its flood protection measures in 2019 and 2020, again to the NRC’s satisfaction.
Turkey Point’s licenses were initially extended in 2002, after technical and environmental reviews demonstrated the reactors would continue to meet the agency’s requirements during operation from 40 to 60 years. Turkey Point applied for a second renewal in 2018, with the agency conducting another round of reviews and concluding in 2019 the reactors would continue meeting requirements from 60 to 80 years. After a Commission decision in 2022, the second renewals were on hold until additional environmental reviews were completed in 2024 and the license expiration dates restored to 2052 and 2053. The bottom line is that the NRC remains satisfied Turkey Point can meet our safe operating requirements during its operating lifetime.
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Publicly available information on this topic is available on 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 protection features changes: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1920/ML19204A179.pdf
Update to Turkey Point’s flood protection features changes: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2030/ML20301A899.pdf
Here is the statement by Bill Orlove, a spokesperson for FPL:
Turkey Point has operated safely and reliably for decades, providing low-cost, emissions-free energy to Florida Power & Light customers. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies, confirm the facility’s safe operations and approve Turkey Point’s continued operations into the 2050s.
Status of the cooling canals
Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant has been using a 168-linear-mile, closed-loop canal system that recycles non-potable groundwater as part of the power generation process since 1973. Occasionally, in years that are drier than normal, evaporation could exceed rainfall. In those instances, salinity levels in the cooling canals increased to levels greater than seawater, and this denser water pushed out the naturally occurring saline groundwater along the bottom of the aquifer, eventually 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 approval for a remediation project that:
- Prevents hypersaline water from beneath the cooling canals from migrating north and west.
- Removes existing hypersaline groundwater.
The agencies also authorized FPL to use brackish groundwater 1,000 feet below the Biscayne aquifer to:
- Replace evaporated water that exceeds rainfall.
- Eliminate the cooling canals as a source of hypersaline groundwater.
FPL is committed to effectively managing the canals’ water:
- The company’s strategic use of brackish water to manage salinity levels has resulted in the lowest annual average salinity levels since 1973.
- The water has essentially returned to the same salinity as seawater.
- A recovery well system installed by the company creates a hydraulic barrier that prevents groundwater from beneath the site from spreading.
- Over a six-year period, the well system has removed more than 36 billion gallons of hypersaline groundwater, which is a significant reduction.
In 2022, a Florida administrative judge supported the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s renewal of the permit to operate the plant’s cooling canal system. The ruling found that data and expert testimony demonstrates operations of the facility and the cooling canal system meet all federal and state environmental regulations.
In addition to safety, environmental stewardship serves as a foundation for the company’s development, construction and operation of all its facilities. An example specific to Turkey Point includes the crocodile monitoring program. On the brink of extirpation from the U.S. in the late 1970s due to habitat loss, the American crocodile has made a dramatic comeback in the habitat surrounding the plant. In the 1980s, FPL initiated the crocodile monitoring program at the plant. The cooling canal system offers ideal nesting conditions for the American crocodile. Our crocodile monitoring program includes protecting these nesting areas, completing population surveys and regulating plant activity at night and during nesting season. Since 1978, FPL biologists have tagged 10,000 hatchlings at Turkey Point. Last year, the canals yielded the third highest number of American crocodile hatchlings (529) in the plant’s history. With the help of FPL’s conservation efforts, the American crocodile was downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened species in 2007.
Operating safely in severe weather conditions
Safety is the cornerstone of our nuclear operations. All our nuclear plants are designed to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural events stronger than ever recorded in their respective regions. Site design at all our nuclear sites provides extra protection against flooding and extreme storm surge, including all sites being elevated at least 20 feet above sea level, which is higher than many buildings in nearby areas. In collaboration with the nuclear industry, the company created regional response centers that include pre-built equipment, located away from nuclear sites, that can be brought into any of our nuclear plants in response to a natural disaster at a site. We have made significant upgrades to our nuclear facilities, including:
- High-capacity pumps to provide additional backup cooling water for safety systems.
- Pre-staged additional backup equipment in onsite reinforced buildings.
- Confirmed the ability of our plants to withstand extreme natural events, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding and fires.
- Turkey Point took a direct hit from one of the strongest hurricanes in history, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew, in 1992. The facility’s critical infrastructure was not damaged.
- Our plant operators can shut down the plant within a matter of seconds, if necessary.
- For one full week every six weeks, plant operators are in training that includes the use of a simulator to demonstrate their ability to safely operate the plant in a variety of worst-case scenarios that include earthquakes, severe storms and flooding, and loss of power, among other situations.
In 2013, FPL submitted an in-depth independent study to the NRC clearly demonstrating that the plant can withstand severe flooding associated with the most extreme natural events, including a storm surge higher than that produced by Category 5 Hurricane Andrew. The updated study considered the impact of a tsunami (no matter how unlikely in Florida), the maximum possible rainfall in the area and projected sea-level rise. We have extensively analyzed data from NOAA and other agencies, and there is adequate protection to safely and reliably operate the facility, along with the cooling canals, for the lifespan of Turkey Point’s operating units, through the 2050s.
Critical plant systems are further protected by additional flood barriers, and the NRC has required that each nuclear site in the U.S. validate its storm surge protection. FPL responded quickly to meet these requirements. It’s also important to note that the cooling canal system at Turkey Point is protected by an 8-foot-high berm.
The reactors and other nuclear components are protected inside a three-foot thick, steel-reinforced concrete building that is fully sealed. Safety systems such as the emergency diesel generators, as well as additional generators and pumps, are elevated an additional two feet above base elevation and enclosed in steel-reinforced concrete buildings that are several feet thick. In addition, Turkey Point has access to additional off-site emergency generators within 24 hours.
Last September, the NRC approved the subsequent license renewal for Turkey Point after the company completed a rigorous reapplication process, providing additional documents for a site-specific environmental impact statement that led to restoring the initial subsequent license approval in 2019.