Regulators have extended the lifespan of two of the oldest nuclear reactors in the US, which has sparked warnings from environmental groups about the increased risk of a nuclear disaster in heavily populated areas of Florida. The Turkey Point facility, located in Miami-Dade county, is particularly vulnerable to flooding and excessive heat due to its low-lying position and coastal exposure to hurricanes. Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential contamination of drinking water in the Biscayne Aquifer, which the plant and its nuclear units sit on. Consultants have also noted that the plant’s owners, Florida Power & Light (FPL), will not meet a crucial deadline to clean up a toxic hyper-salinated water plume produced in the reactors’ cooling canals. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to extend Turkey Point’s operating license to 2053, reversing their earlier refusal, has also caused concern. The plant’s two nuclear power reactors are already among the oldest in the US, and are the same age as the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, which was involved in a nuclear disaster in 2011. Rachel Silverstein, the chief executive of Miami Waterkeeper, has pointed out that Turkey Point is the first reactor in the US to apply to run for a total of 80 years, and that no nuclear power plant in the world has ever run for that long. She argues that while she is not anti-nuclear, there need to be considerations for the effects of the climate on the plants and the risks involved. Environmentalists also argue that the true operational lifespan of nuclear power generating facilities is far below the NRC’s eight-decade guideline, and point to data showing that among US plants built before 1973, half were decommissioned within 40 years. FPL has responded to these concerns by stating that Turkey Point is built more than 20ft above sea level, higher than any recorded storm surge in south Florida, and has received a direct hit from category 5 Hurricane Andrew in 1992 with no impact on the facility’s critical infrastructure. The company has also invested $2bn over a 10-year period to upgrade Turkey Point’s nuclear units and continues to invest millions of dollars during planned outages and routine maintenance to ensure the plant’s safety and integration with other clean energy sources.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/nuclear-power-plants-miami-florida