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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, 23 miles away from 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, Florida|Daytona Beach]] and [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]. Power was restored by 4:30 pm. The reason this malfunction caused such widespread outages is still |
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, 23 miles away from 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, Florida|Daytona Beach]] and [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]. Power was restored by 4:30 pm. The reason this malfunction caused such widespread outages is still under investigation.<ref name="reuters-expand">{{cite news |
||
| url = http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbfpl0227sbfeb27,0,7439215.story |
| url = http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbfpl0227sbfeb27,0,7439215.story |
||
| title = FPL mystery: How did small fire knock out power to millions? = Sun-Sentinel |
| title = FPL mystery: How did small fire knock out power to millions? = Sun-Sentinel |
||
| Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 25°26′03″N 80°19′50″W / 25.4342°N 80.3306°W / 25.4342; -80.3306 |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | Unit 3: December 14, 1972 Unit 4: September 7, 1973 |
| Operator(s) | Florida Power & Light |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity |
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| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is a twin reactor nuclear power station located on a 3,300-acre (1,300 ha) site 2 miles east of Homestead, Florida, United States, next to Biscayne National Park located about 25 miles (40 km) south of Miami, Florida near the southernmost edge of Miami-Dade County.
Turkey Point is owned by Florida Power & Light.
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] The proposal was approved by the PSC in March 2008.[4]
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.[5]
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).[6] FPL had considered building two 1,550-MWe GE ESBWR reactors.[1] 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.[7]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.[8]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Turkey Point was 161,556, an increase of 62.8 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 3,476,981, an increase of 15.1 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Miami (25 miles to city center).[9]
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 overtightened 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, destroying its main water tank, causing severe damage to the water treatment plant, and to a smokestack of one of the site's fossil-fueled units. The smokestack had to be demolished and rebuilt. It also suffered a loss of offsite power, requiting the onsite emergency diesel generators to start. 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.
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, 23 miles away from 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]
It is home to a wildlife preserve, helping the population of the American crocodile.[16] Turkey Point has been a contributing force to the reclassification of the American Crocodile from endangered to the less serious category of vulnerable.[17]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Turkey Point was 1 in 100,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[18][19]
The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station consist of two operational reactors, two additional units are planned.
| Reactor unit[20] | Reactor type | Capacity | Construction started | Electricity grid connection | Commercial operation | Shutdown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net | Gross | ||||||
| Turkey Point-3 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 693 MW | 729 MW | 27.04.1967 | 02.11.1972 | 14.12.1972 | |
| Turkey Point-4 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 693 MW | 729 MW | 27.04.1967 | 21.06.1973 | 07.09.1973 | |
| Turkey Point-6 (planned)[21] | AP1000 | 1117 MW | MW | ||||
| Turkey Point-7 (planned)[22] | AP1000 | 1117 MW | MW | ||||
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) [dead link]
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| NRC Region I (Northeast) |
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| NRC Region II (South) |
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| NRC Region III (Midwest) |
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| NRC Region IV (West) |
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| Converted |
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| Closed |
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| Cancelled (incomplete list, whole plants only) |
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| Future |
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