After the issue was tucked into a wide-ranging energy bill approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature, state regulators in the coming months will study the feasibility of adding more nuclear power.
The Florida Public Service Commission has scheduled a Sept. 5 workshop as it begins carrying out a legislative directive to submit a report by April 2025 about the possibility of using “advanced” nuclear technologies. That includes the possibility of adding nuclear power at military bases.
The legislative directive came as the Biden administration also is taking similar steps that could bolster nuclear projects. The Biden administration announced May 29 that it was forming a working group as part of a goal of “delivering an efficient and cost-effective deployment of clean, reliable nuclear energy and ensuring that learnings translate to cost savings for future construction and deployment.”
The White House also said the U.S. Army would release what is known as a “request for information” as a step toward using advanced reactors to power Army bases and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working to streamline permitting for nuclear projects.
“Taken together, these actions represent the largest sustained push to accelerate civil nuclear deployment in the United States in nearly five decades,” the White House said in announcing the moves.
Nuclear plants generate about 13 percent of Florida’s electricity, according to a state House analysis, with Florida Power & Light operating the St. Lucie and Turkey Point plants.
But the state hasn’t had new nuclear plants since the 1970s and 1980s. Also, Duke Energy Florida decided in 2013 to permanently shut down a Crystal River nuclear plant that had sustained damage in a containment building.
Lawmakers this year included the nuclear-power study in a bill (HB 1645) that included higher-profile issues such as eliminating references in state law to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and barring offshore wind-energy production.
While incidents such as the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania long stymied nuclear projects in the U.S., the issue has drawn renewed interest in recent years. In part, that is because of efforts to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired and natural-gas power plants.
Another factor is the development of new technology. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy said on its website that advanced reactors have a simpler design than older reactors, which “means they require fewer components, less maintenance and fewer workers. In addition, they are designed to be self-adjusting and fail-safe with passive safety systems that prevent the possibility of over-heating.”
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
R.S. says
Pure madness in a state that can rely on so much renewable energy from wind, sun, and tides. Nobody knows what to do with the nuclear waste; and it’ll be hot for the next 20,000 years or so. Shoshone near Yucca Mountain are showing increases in cancer, particularly thyroid cancer. If they weren’t so dirt-poor from the theft of their lands, they’d never agree to such a crazy deal. Thyroid cancer is also more numerous around nuclear power plants, particularly around St. Lucy’s FPL reactor. There is no nuclear power plant that does not release tritium into the environment. While it can be argued that it can occur in nature, we should think about the fact that CO2 also can occur in nature. It’s the amount that matters. Like Fukushima, Florida is threatened by higher sea levels. And we know that the Fukushima region is still dead to all life. Only greedy people who don’t think a second beyond their own death and comfort are likely to want to expand nuclear poisoning.
Joe D says
I lived 25 miles from 3 mile Island during the Nuclear “crisis.” I was 19 at the time, and absolutely TERRIFIED at the potential accident that COULD have happened. There was also PEACH BOTTOM nuclear power plant in Southern Pa., where we actually toured with our CUB SCOUT group. Yes ( if EVERYTHING goes as PLANNED) Nuclear power can be clean, and efficient….but we all know, that things don’t always go as planned. Although nuclear programs have gotten much safer, if a NUCLEAR program goes wrong, you’ve got a MUCH bigger problem than flooding from a damaged hydroelectric DAM. You’ve got damage for a 50 mile radius “dead zone” and another 50-100 mile radius beyond that with radiation affecting the soil/the air/the residents.
I just think the consequences are just too great for something to seriously go WRONG…..like Hurricane damage. Solar and Wind don’t have the potential to devastate large areas of land for the next several hundred years. Maybe I’m just being ALARMIST, but I remember the 3 mile Island Crisis, like it was YESTERDAY!
Celia Pugliese says
Bad, bad, bad for FL and US What about wind, tides and solar instead?
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Wrong. Renewable energy accounts for maybe 7-8% of the total energy produced within Florida. Natural gas, gasoline, fuel oil, jet fuel, and coal account for the VAST majority of energy production, then nuclear. Biomass and other renewables are minimal compared to everything else and yet Florida doesn’t produce enough energy to meet its own needs. If you want fast environmental change, you’re going to need nuclear.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Surprise, reactor design has changed dramatically in the years since 3 mile island
Celia Pugliese says
We have plenty Tides, Solar and Wind for renewable energy in FL. Why nuclear? Who is getting graft?
Celia Pugliese says
What about instead using Tides, Wind and Solar?
DaleL says
Florida is not a good location for wind power. Wind requires steady, nearly constant wind such as in the plains states. Hurricane force winds can do a number on wind turbines.
Florida and California are good states for solar power. However, as California is now experiencing, peak production of solar energy does not match peak demand. The ability to store or export the excess electricity is not always possible and the power is wasted.
Coal especially and natural gas come from deep within the ground. They are contaminated with radioactive elements. A coal powered electrical plant emits more radiation than a nuclear plant. Coal ash waste is sufficiently radioactive that if it came from a nuclear plant, it would be treated as radioactive waste.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/
The Three Mile Island nuclear plant partial meltdown has been thoroughly studied. The average downwind exposure was the equivalent of a single chest X-ray.
There are only so many rivers which are suitable for hydroelectric power. Florida does not have any.
I welcome more nuclear power. It is a good, carbon neutral (mostly), power source. It should be part of the energy mix along with solar, wind, and some “natural” gas.
Timbo says
U.S. aircraft carriers have been nuclear powered for decades. If they can safely operate on those floating cities then there should be no problem powering a base on land.
Kelly says
If we would stop inviting the whole country to move here we wouldn’t have this problem, way to overpopulated here!