The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Thursday that it had approved of the environmental impact conditions presented by Florida Power and Light's two-unit proposed Turkey Point expansion project in Florida. Staff had concluded there were no environmental issued that prevented the agency from issuing a Combined Licenses to build the plant at a site 20 miles south of Miami, the agency said.
However, other reviews and a legal challenge to the project are pending.
The NRC said it developed the Turkey Point project's Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) jointly with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District. The Corps will use the document's information in considering its federal permit decision in accordance with the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the agency said.
The EIS is part of the overall licensing review. The NRC staff continues to work on the project's final safety evaluation report, which wil include a review by the NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent group of nuclear safety experts.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is conducting a legal hearing on a challenge to the application. When the technical review is completed, the NRC’s Commissioners will conduct a separate mandatory hearing regarding the application and the staff’s review. All of these steps must be completed before the NRC can reach a final decision on the Turkey Point application.
Florida Power and Light (FPL) submitted a Combined License application on June 30, 2009, seeking permission to construct and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site, near Homestead, Fla., which already houses two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWR), which were commissioned in July 1972 and April 1973, respectively.
The NRC certified the AP1000 design for U.S. use in December 2011.
Anonymous comments will be moderated. Join for free and post now!
