FPL pushes ahead with new nuclear reactors

[FBaggins]

Florida Power & Light Co. this week said it will push ahead with plans to build two additional reactors at its Turkey Point nuclear plant south of Miami as energy industry watchdogs question the financials and demand for such projects.

FPL, Florida's largest electricity company, told Miami Today that it expected to receive federal and state licensing and approval for the Turkey Point expansion next year and the new reactors would start operating in 2022 and 2023.

FPL would finance the project, estimated to cost $12 billion to $18 billion, and start charging customers to make up the construction costs once the reactors went into service, said Peter Robbins, lead advisor of nuclear communications for NextEra Energy Inc., FPL's parent company.

...snip...

In the long run, he said, the Turkey Point expansion will be a big cost saver for customers, saving FPL an estimated $78 billion in fuel purchasing costs over a 40-year period if the company were to buy natural gas — the next most cost effective alternative — to produce the additional energy that the new reactors would generate. By law, utility companies are not allowed to profit from fuel purchases. "A $78 billion [fuel] savings for us means $78 billion in savings for our customers" spread out over a number of years, Mr. Robbins said.


http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/130822/story6.shtml

[Mojorabbit]

1. South Florida will be underwater in the future

i wonder who will pick up the cost of dismantling the reactor.
People have been asking questions for years.
Global warming could put Turkey Point nuclear reactors under water
By Michael E. Miller Thursday, Sep 8 2011
Warning: Global warming is a fact, and the results are already visible. Hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts and floods are more frequent. In South Florida, waters rose roughly six inches between 1930 and 1981. That might not sound like much, but it's just the tip of a rapidly melting iceberg. "We are the most vulnerable metropolitan area in the world when it comes to sea-level rise," University of Miami professor Harold Wanless says. And, the avuncular geologist adds, that's nothing.

"Another eight inches, and 65 percent of the county's water control structures will fail," he says. Salt water will seep across South Florida, destroying crops, corroding cars, and costing billions in damages. But eight inches is a drop in the bucket. Wanless expects South Florida seas to rise by at least four, probably six, feet by 2100. Still contemplating that beachfront condo so the grandchildren have a pad when your kids kick the bucket?

Consider: A two-foot rise would plunge 28 percent of Miami-Dade below water. Miami Beach would be reduced to Ocean Drive (shudder) as celebrities scramble to save their Star Island mansions. Same thing across the bay. Sayonara, city hall. Most worrisome of all, Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant would be an island in the newly created Sea of Homestead.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-09-08/news/global-warming-could-put-turkey-point-nuclear-reactors-under-water/full/

It is insane.

[FBaggins]

2. The existing reactors are 22ft above sea level.

The two new ones are planned to be even higher - and Turkey Point has already been hit head-on by a category 5 hurricane without compromising safety.

It's also useful to note that if sea levels do rise that much in the next century... it will be because we didn't build plants like this.

[Mojorabbit]

4. Here is some more

"But the biggest problem of all is that inundation maps show that with three feet of sea-level rise, Turkey Point is cut off from the mainland and accessible only by boat or aircraft. And the higher the seas go, the deeper it's submerged."

and
"According to Florida Power and Light, the electric utility that operates the plants, there is virtually no chance of a storm surge causing problems with the reactors. As evidence of this, Michael Waldron, a spokesman for the company, points to the fact that Hurricane Andrew, a Category Five hurricane, passed directly over the plant in 1992, with very little damage. "It goes without saying that safety is our number-one priority," Waldron said in an e-mail.

But Stoddard and other critics of the plant are not reassured. For one thing, although the plant did weather the hurricane, the peak storm surge, which was 17 feet high, passed 10 miles north of the plant. According to Peter W. Harlem, a research geologist at Florida International University, the plant itself only weathered a surge of about three feet – hardly a testament to the storm-readiness of the plant. How would Turkey Point fare if it were hit with a Hurricane Katrina-size storm surge of 28 feet?

Stoddard also points out that, although the reactors themselves are elevated, some of the other equipment is not. "I was given a tour of the plant in 2011," says Stoddard. "It was impressively lashed down against wind, but even I could see vulnerabilities to water." Stoddard noticed that some of the ancillary­ equipment was not raised high enough. He was particularly struck by the location of one of the emergency diesel generators, which are crucial for keeping cooling waters circulating­ in the event of a power failure (it was the failure of four layers of power supply that caused the meltdown of reactors in Fukushima, Japan, after the plant was hit by a tsunami in 2011). Stoddard­ says the generator was located about 15 feet above sea level, and it was housed in a container with open louvers. "How easy would it be for water to flow into that? How well does that generator work when it is under water?"
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-the-city-of-miami-is-doomed-to-drown-20130620?page=4

[FBaggins]

5. Really?

He saw that one generator wasn't so high up and had open louvers? Do we even know that it was one of the primary backup diesels?

The plant has multiple backup systems - including a steam-driven system powered by the plant itself and a pair of diesel pumps 20-30 feet above the level of the reactor (itself 20+ feet above sea level).

As they replied in the article - everything that's essential to the safety of the plant is at least 22 feet above sea level. And hurricanes don't arrive with mere minutes' notice (as the tsunami did). The plant gets plenty of warning (before Andrew, they began shutting down 12 hours in advance).



But the biggest problem of all is that inundation maps show that with three feet of sea-level rise, Turkey Point is cut off from the mainland and accessible only by boat or aircraft.

So 100 years from now they'll need to build a bridge or levies if we keep buring coal? Ok. There are worlds of difference between the planning for sudden flooding events and inches-per-decade events.

[kristopher]

3. Great use of DoubleSpeak in that article

They say they aren't going to start charging customers for construction until they go online, but...

By the end of this year, the company will have collected about $211 million from its customers to pay for the regulatory application and planning process, Mr. Robbins said.

And

"Nuclear cost recovery funds are used in a pay-as-you-go approach to get the licenses and approvals — a fiscally responsible approach that actually saves customers money," he added.

Don't you just love that "fiscally responsible approach that actually saves customers money" line? When in fact, given the electric market landscape, they will probably spend $2,000,000,000 of ratepayer money and then abandon the project.

Duke to Halt New Florida Reactors in Settlement Deal
By Jim Polson - Aug 1, 2013
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) will halt plans to build a new nuclear plant in Florida and seek to recover as much as $1.47 billion in costs associated with a shuttered reactor in the state under a settlement with regulatory staff.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-01/duke-to-halt-new-florida-reactors-in-settlement-deal.html

If I put myself in FPL's shoes, I have to think, "Why not? Given these Construction Work In Progress laws like Florida has passed, why not add $2B to the rate base this way?"
After all, it means about $200,000,000 in pure profit for FPL if they just follow Duke's Levy model.

[FBaggins]

6. Nope. Just another of your strawmen.

They say they aren't going to start charging customers for construction until they go online, but

You start with "But" and then list a charge that isn't for construction? Interesting "DoubleSpeak"

[kristopher]

7. When you can rack up $2-3 Billion (with a B) in preconstruction costs...

...then yes, it is DoubleSpeak.