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The 168-mile-long loop of canals that cool the twin nuclear reactors at Turkey Point was dug in the 1970s to avoid pumping billions of gallons of damaging hot water into Biscayne Bay. More than 30 years later, the solution to one environmental problem has emerged as a prime suspect in another -- an underground saltwater wedge that has pushed miles inland from Florida Power & Light's bayside plant. Regulators don't yet know the size of the salty plume, but preliminary studies suggest a leading edge has marched far enough east, just past the Homestead Miami Speedway, to pose risks to drinking-water wells for Keys and Homestead residents and Everglades restoration projects intended to revive historic freshwater flows to the bay.

While two more nuclear reactors at Turkey Point would generate clean energy and create at least 800 permanent new jobs in the area, federal regulators Thursday night said the proposed facilities were not a done deal. ''If approved,'' stressed Stephanie Coffin, branch chief for the division of new reactor licensing at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ``This is not an automatic process.'' She and her colleagues from the Rockville, Md.-based federal agency, which regulates the construction and operation of nuclear reactors nationwide, spoke to more than 200 people at the Keys Gate Golf and Country Club, 2300 Southeast Palm Dr. Florida Power & Light has proposed building two more nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point site within the next 12 years.

Leaders and residents discuss concerns over Turkey Point and utility lines even though Florida Power & Light officials declined to attend a meeting. If you go | Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings What: April 23 Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting: FPL permits Where: Keys Gate Golf Club, 2300 Palm Dr., Homestead For information: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson's office, 305-375-5218 What: April 28 Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting: Turkey Point evaluation Where: Homestead City Hall, 790 N. Homestead Blvd. For information: Commissioner Katy Sorenson's office, 305-375-5218 BY TANIA VALDEMORO tvaldemoro@MiamiHerald.com Residents and elected officials, armed with questions about safety at the Turkey Point nuclear power station east of Homestead, left with no answers Thursday after Florida Power & Light executives did not appear at a community forum in Cutler Bay. Organized by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, the event at the South Dade Government Center, 10710 SW 211th St., was intended to provide citizens with information about safety practices at Turkey Point.

More than two years after a federal investigation found that guards were sleeping on the job at Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point nuclear plant, the utility has paid a six-figure fine to resolve the case. FPL sent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a check for $130,000 in January, the commission confirmed Monday. FPL spokesman Tom Veenstra confirmed late Monday that the company had paid the fine. Six guards at the Miami-Dade County plant slept or served as lookouts for other guards who were sleeping ''on multiple occasions'' between 2004 and 2006, the commission concluded. All of the guards were contractors with Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut. None remained on the job after the violations were announced last year, officials said.

When Coleen Ware walked into Turkey Point, she was shocked to see that the indicators showing control rod positions looked like something out of an early '70s sci-fi movie. On special assignment from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations to teach managers of the South Dade plant about safety, she was surprised by the aged indicators, which show the position of the rods in the reactor core -- a central measure about how the core is functioning. ``There are the old gauges . . . where . . . a needle that goes around and around,'' Ware testified, saying they were ``not very reliable.'' When operators looked at the indicators daily, ``they'd be stuck.

When Coleen Ware walked into Turkey Point, she was shocked to see that the indicators showing control rod positions looked like something out of an early '70s sci-fi movie. On special assignment from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations to teach managers of the South Dade plant about safety, she was surprised by the aged indicators, which show the position of the rods in the reactor core -- a central measure about how the core is functioning. ``There are the old gauges . . . where . . . a needle that goes around and around,'' Ware testified, saying they were ``not very reliable.'' When operators looked at the indicators daily, ``they'd be stuck.

A Dec. 10 town-hall meeting will address the health effects of high-voltage lines, nuclear-reactor safety and the environmental impact of nuclear plants. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder. Several cities have voiced opposition to the high-voltage lines that would carry power from the larger plant along U.S. 1 to downtown Miami. In response to the worries of those who could be affected, the newly incorporated activist group Citizens Allied for Safe Energy is inviting everyone interested in the matter to a town-hall meeting Dec. 10. A group of speakers will address general issues on nuclear safety, the health effects of power-line magnetic fields, and environmental problems associated with nuclear plants. `POSSIBLE CARCINOGEN'

A Dec. 10 town-hall meeting will address the health effects of high-voltage lines, nuclear-reactor safety and the environmental impact of nuclear plants. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder. Several cities have voiced opposition to the high-voltage lines that would carry power from the larger plant along U.S. 1 to downtown Miami. In response to the worries of those who could be affected, the newly incorporated activist group Citizens Allied for Safe Energy is inviting everyone interested in the matter to a town-hall meeting Dec. 10. A group of speakers will address general issues on nuclear safety, the health effects of power-line magnetic fields, and environmental problems associated with nuclear plants. `POSSIBLE CARCINOGEN'

A group of activists is raising concerns over two new reactors at Turkey Point while Florida Power & Light assures residents that the nuclear plant is safe. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder.

A group of activists is raising concerns over two new reactors at Turkey Point while Florida Power & Light assures residents that the nuclear plant is safe. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has called a special meeting next week to discuss three apparent violations involving a spent fuel pool at Turkey Point - a critical issue as the long-held plans for storing waste in Nevada have completely collapsed. Technically, the meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday involves the degradation of "a neutron-absorbing material called Boraflex in the Unit 3 spent fuel pool." Used nuclear fuel has been building up at Turkey Point for the 35 years of its operation. The degradation involves systems intended to cram more spent fuel into the pools, according to Lawrence King, a former NRC inspector. More than two million pounds of waste now sit at the South Miami-Dade site in pools of water - although Florida Power & Light Co. spokesman Michael Waldron says it's more accurate to think of the spent rods as occupying a 16-foot cube if bunched together."

"he nuclear reactor design that Florida Power & Light picked for its expansion at Turkey Point has safety flaws that its manufacturers and federal regulators have overlooked, according to a technical analysis commissioned by environmental groups. The report -- made public Wednesday -- contends that the reactor's steel-walled containment vessel, the protective barrier from radiation, is more vulnerable to developing rust and holes than older reactors. That, coupled with the design of its emergency cooling system, could multiply exposure risks in the event of an accident, the report concludes. Arnold Gundersen, a nuclear engineer who produced the report for a dozen national and regional environmental groups, said during a teleconference that the AP 1000 design by the Westinghouse Electrical Co. was ``entirely different'' from older designs and also ``inherently less safe.'' "

A group of Cuban nationals who fled their country by boat landed in the cooling canal of a nuclear power plant along Florida's coast on Thanksgiving Day, according to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission event report issued Friday. The plant's operations were not disrupted by the incident, according to the report. The Turkey Point nuclear power plant control room received a call from an individual stating that he was a member of a group of 33 Cuban nationals that had landed in the cooling canal. The group was made up of 29 adults and 4 children.

A group of Cuban nationals who fled their country by boat landed in the cooling canal of a nuclear power plant along Florida's coast on Thanksgiving Day, according to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission event report issued Friday. The plant's operations were not disrupted by the incident, according to the report. The Turkey Point nuclear power plant control room received a call from an individual stating that he was a member of a group of 33 Cuban nationals that had landed in the cooling canal. The group was made up of 29 adults and 4 children.