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The industry is on an unprecedented uptick as the world tries to lessen its reliance on globe-warming fossil fuels. In the United States, applications for new reactors and extended licenses are soaring. In Florida, which has five nuclear reactors, preliminary approval has been granted for four more.

Flooding from tropical Storm Fay triggered the shutdown of an 839-megawatt nuclear reactor unit at FPL Group's St. Lucie plant, but power supplies are still adequate, the company said today. Due to flooding in an area that holds equipment and pumps, the St. Lucie 1 reactor was taken offline around 6 a.m. Wednesday, said FPL spokeswoman Leslie Cifelli.

The Nuclear Energy age began on Dec. 2, 1942, with the first sustained nuclear fission reactor at the University of Chicago. The Nuclear Weapon age, relying on the same nuclear physics and chain reaction processes, began on July 16, 1945, with the Trinity explosion at Alamogordo New Mexico. It was soon followed by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions of Aug. 6 and 9.

Lockheed Martin Corp. announced Friday night its timetable for the cleanup of the Tallevast pollution plume could be cut almost in half, but failed once again to calm the fears of neighborhood residents who believe the project is putting them at risk.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled its annual public hearing to discuss safety performance at Point Beach Nuclear Plant for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Two Creeks Town Hall, 5128 E. Tapawingo Road. In its safety report, the NRC said Point Beach was operated in a manner that met all safety objectives, though it pointed out that an issue with an auxiliary feedwater pump turbine is still under review.

Saying Florida needs to move forward with new sources of energy, state regulators gave key approvals today to two utilities' plans to build nuclear -- and solar-power plants. The state Public Service Commission unanimously backed a $17 billion project by Progress Energy Florida to build a nuclear plant in Levy County.

Florida is hungrier than ever for more energy, and nuclear energy could be where to get it. A new plant could generate enough power for more than 1 billion homes along the I-4 corridor, but getting the green light from regulators could be tough. "For me, I was raised by a scientist and an engineer, and it's just a bad investment," said Holly Binns, field director of Environment Florida.

MANATEE COUNTY - Buildings No. 4 and 5 at 1600 Tallevast Road were once a central part of the former American Beryllium Co. plant where local workers built parts that were used to make weapons. One building served as a wood-working shop and inspection room. The other housed a waste-water treatment system and was used to store hazardous materials.

There is a reason Miami-Dade County in Southern Florida is the first place where America's utility industry is moving forward with new nuclear capacity in three decades. In Miami, Florida Power & Light found public officials malleable as silly putty, willing to allow a local agreement with a wink to substitute for solid facts that the public had the right to know: where the cooling water will come from at a time of chronic drought, where the water--more than 50 million gallons per day-- will go when it is evaporated, and what will its effects be on public health and the environment

TALLEVAST | In this deeply rooted village in Southwest Florida, it's not unusual to find generations of the same family living doors apart. Now these lifelong settlers are bracing for their hamlet to die. The water in this black community tucked between Bradenton and Sarasota is poisoned with cancer-causing chemicals leaked from an old beryllium plant that anchors the neighborhood of 80 homes.

Beginning in 1957, Pinellas County was home to a plant that built triggers for nuclear weapons. Some of that Largo plant's former workers claim that they were exposed to toxic substances and are fighting for compensation. Dave Bossard worked at the General Electric Neutron Devices plant for 34 years and eventually became a supervisor. His duties included supervising the area that contained the chemical storage building. He said the workers were exposed to 473 "deadly toxins … chemicals and radiation" that are still causing diseases in former workers.

TALLEVAST -- Rep. Bill Galvano wants all parties involved in the Tallevast contamination dispute to talk, unencumbered by legal actions. "This matter has lingered for far too long despite everyone's efforts to bring it to some sort of resolution," Galvano wrote in a letter mailed Friday to attorneys representing Tallevast residents and Lockheed Martin Corp., responsible for cleaning up a toxic spill beneath the community.

TALLEVAST -- One month after concerned community leaders asked for a cancer study, state and local health officials visited Tallevast on Monday to start preliminary plans. The state's quick response gives Tallevast hope their concerns will be heard, said Laura Ward, president of FOCUS, an advocacy group for residents. Tallevast residents believe the high numbers of cancers and neurological disorders in their community are linked to contamination traced back to a former beryllium plant. Now known to cover more than 200 acres, the toxic waste includes industrial chemicals known to cause cancer and other illnesses.

Your electric bill is likely to go up $2 a month or more next year to start paying for the new nuclear power plants that Florida Power & Light hopes to put in service in 10 or 12 years.

Florida Power and Light filed with the Public Service Commission a request to recover costs incurred so far on two key nuclear projects: expansion of the power capacity at our nuclear power plants at Turkey Point and St. Lucie, and the addition of two nuclear units at the Turkey Point power plant complex. If approved by the Public Service Commission, beginning January 2009 consumer electric bills may increase by slightly more than 2 percent.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should revisit some of the environmental aspects of Dominion's plan for a third reactor at North Anna Power Station. That was the suggestion of several speakers at a well-attended public information session by the agency Wednesday night at Louisa County High School.