Friday, March 18, 2011

Wikipedia re: FPL Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant

Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station

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To comply with Wikipedia's guidelines, the introduction of this article may need to be rewritten. Please discuss this issue on the talk page and read the layout guide to make sure the section will be inclusive of all essential details. (February 2008)
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is located in Florida
Location of Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station
Country United States
Locale Homestead, Florida
Coordinates 25°26′3″N 80°19′50″W / 25.43417°N 80.33056°W / 25.43417; -80.33056Coordinates: 25°26′3″N 80°19′50″W / 25.43417°N 80.33056°W / 25.43417; -80.33056
Status Operational
Commission date Unit 3: December 14, 1972
Unit 4: September 7, 1973
Licence expiration Unit 3: July 19, 2032
Unit 4: April 10, 2033
Operator(s) Florida Power & Light
Architect(s) Bechtel

Reactor information
Reactors operational 2 x 693 MW
Reactors planned 2 x 1117 MW
Reactor type(s) pressurized water reactor
Reactor supplier(s) Westinghouse

Power station information
Generation units Westinghouse

Power generation information
Annual generation 11,227 GW·h
As of 2008-11-16

Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is a twin reactor nuclear power station located on a 3,300-acre (13 km²) site 2 miles east of Homestead, Florida, United States, next to Biscayne National Park located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Miami, Florida near the southernmost edge of Miami-Dade County. It is home to a wildlife preserve, helping the population of the American crocodile.[1] Turkey Point has been a contributing force to the reclassification of the American Crocodile from endangered to the less serious category of threatened.[2]

Turkey Point is owned by Florida Power & Light.

Contents

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Including the two nuclear plants, Turkey Point operates five power-generating units. It comprises two 400-megawatt oil/natural gas-fired generation units (Units 1 and 2) and two nuclear Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (Units 3 and 4), each supplying steam to one high pressure and two low-pressure turbines with a power output rated at 693 MWe for each unit. In 2007, it added the 1,150 MW combined-cycle gas-fired Unit 5.[3] It serves the entire southern portion of Florida. With a combined capacity of 3330 MW, the site is the largest generating station in Florida and is the sixth largest power plant in the United States.[4]

[edit] Expansion

In 2002, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) extended the operating licenses for both nuclear reactors from forty years to sixty. In 2006, FPL informed the NRC that they planned to apply for new units to be built at Turkey Point. FPL filed an initial proposal for increased capacity with the Florida Public Service Commission in October 2007.[5] The proposal was approved by the PSC in March 2008.[6]

FPL also plans to spend about $1.5 billion to increase the capacity of its existing four reactors at Turkey Point and the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant by a total of about 400 MW by 2012.[7]

On June 30, 2009, FPL submitted a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) application for two 1,117-MWe Westinghouse AP1000 reactors (Units 6 and 7).[8] FPL had considered building two 1,550-MWe GE ESBWR reactors.[3] Construction is expected to begin in 2012, with the new units going online in 2017 and 2019. FPL estimates the total overnight costs of the power plants, including first fuel load, at $6.8–$9.9 billion, and the total project cost at $12.1–$17.8 billion.[9]

[edit] Incident history

On May 8, 1974 a test was performed on all three of the Emergency Feedwater (EFW) pumps serving Unit 3 while the reactor was operating at power. Two of the pumps failed to start as a result of over-tightened packing. The third pump failed to start because of a malfunction in the turbine regulating valve pneumatic controller. (ref NRC LER 250/74-LTR) In an on-going study (ref NRC Commission Document SECY-05-0192 Attachment 2 NRC.gov) of precursors that could lead to a nuclear accident if additional failures were to have occurred, the NRC concluded (as of 24-Oct-2005) that this event at Turkey Point Unit 3 was the fifth highest ranked occurrence.

In 1992, Turkey Point was directly hit by Hurricane Andrew, causing damage to a water tank and to a smokestack of one of the site's fossil-fueled units. No damage was done to the plant's containment buildings.[10][11] The plant was built to withstand winds of up to 235 mph (380 km/h), greatly exceeding the maximum winds recorded by category 5 hurricanes.

[edit] 2008 Florida electricity blackout

On February 26, 2008, both reactors were shut down due to the loss of off-site power during a widespread power outage in South Florida, affecting 700,000 customers.[12]

At least 2.5 million people were without power. The blackout was initially caused by an overheated voltage switch that soon caught fire in a power substation in Miami, nowhere near the plant. The fire occurred at 1:08 pm which caused an automatic shutdown of the power plant. This led to a domino effect that caused outages as far north as Daytona Beach and Tampa. Power was restored by 4:30 pm. The reason this malfunction caused such widespread outages is still under investigation.[12]

Walt Disney World, Orlando International Airport, and Miami International Airport were among the places affected by the outage.[13]

David Hoffman, a nuclear supervisor at Turkey Point, resigned over the incident and was subsequently sued for by Florida Power and Light for return of a bonus. Hoffman countersued, claiming he was pressured to restart the reactors while they were in a condition which in his judgement made it unsafe to do so. Upper management wanted the reactors restarted during xenon dead time, which would have caused the operators at the controls to continuously step control rods to safely manage reactor output.

Florida Power and Light responded to the allegation, claiming Hoffman's suit was "self motivated".[14][15]

[edit] In popular culture

  • In the CSI: Miami Episode "Going, Going, Gone." A man (under duress) funds a terrorist cell that aims to detonate 10,000 lbs of Plastic explosive at Turkey Point.
  • The band Against All Authority reference Turkey Point in the song "The Source of Strontium 90".
  • In the 2010 film Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus, Turkey Point fires an arc flash over Orlando to ward off the giant crocodile.
  • In the 2011 film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Terry (Tiffany) drives a car filled with reptile pheromones to lure the giant pythons and alligators away from Turkey Point.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "About Turkey Point". FPL.com. Florida Power & Light. http://www.fpl.com/environment/nuclear/about_turkey_point.shtml. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  2. ^ CBS News. Endangered Crocs Make A Comeback.
  3. ^ a b DiSavino, Scott (October 13, 2008). "FPL Fla. Turkey Point 4 reactor shut". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtilitiesElectric/idUSN1344614220081013. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  4. ^ [U.S. Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/rankings/plantsbycapacity.htm]
  5. ^ "FPL moves to add nuclear plants in S. Dade". Miami Herald. October 17, 2007. http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/274048.html. Retrieved October 23, 2007. [dead link]
  6. ^ John Dorschner; Curtis Morgan (March 19, 2008). "FPL reactor proposal advances". The Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/982/story/492423.html. Retrieved July 15, 2008. [dead link]
  7. ^ DiSavino, Scott (June 1, 2009). "FPL Fla. Turkey Point 4 reactor back at full power". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtilitiesElectric/idUSN0144937320090601?dbi=1. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  8. ^ "Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Application". Combined License Applications for New Reactors. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). July 2, 2009. http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  9. ^ "Application for Florida reactors". World Nuclear News. July 23, 2009. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Application_for_Florida_reactors_2307092.html. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  10. ^ "NRC Information Notice 93-53: Effect of Hurricane Andrew on Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station and Lessons Learned". NRC.gov. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. July 20, 1993. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/info-notices/1993/in93053.html. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  11. ^ "NRC Information Notice 93-53, Supplement 1: Effect of Hurricane Andrew on Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station and Lessons Learned". NRC.gov. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. April 29, 1994. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/info-notices/1993/in93053s1.html. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  12. ^ a b DiSavino, Scott (February 26, 2008). "FPL Fla, Turkey Pt reactors shut due to power outage". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSN2635797520080226. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  13. ^ Reasons For Blackout In Central, Southern Florida Remain A Mystery - News Story - WFTV Orlando
  14. ^ "Court papers reveal nuclear feud at Turkey Point". The Miami Herald. March 12, 2009. http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/945615.html. Retrieved March 18, 2009. [dead link]
  15. ^ "Court papers: Nuclear feud at Fla. plant". UPI.com. March 12, 2009. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/12/Court_papers_Nuclear_feud_at_Fla_plant/UPI-18051236894387/. Retrieved March 18, 2009.

[edit] External links

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