Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

The Florida Public Service Commission took several measures this week aimed at addressing allegations that some agency officials improperly conversed with FPL. Some PSC commissioners and staffers have talked to FPL employees in private meetings and via phone calls and text messages -- conversations that leave no paper trail. State law restricts conversations between commissioners and employees of utilities they regulate. There's debate about whether the law applies to commissioners' chief advisors. Amid the accusations, the PSC took several actions and Floated a few proposals: -Four PSC employees stepped down or went on leave -PSC Chairman Matthew Carter ordered the agency to disable both text and instant messaging on state-issued smart phones. -Commissioner Lisa Edgar asked for a review of the agency's policies on retaining public records in light of new technologies such as instant messaging. -Commissioner Nathan Skop proposed blocking agency computers from accessing instant messaging sites on Yahoo, AOL and Twitter during hearings; banning all smart phones from the PSC hearing room; and buying software that allows the PSC to log smart phone use.

Florida approved a nuclear plant for the first time in more than three decades. The plant would be built in Levy County. TALLAHASSEE -- Over the objections of some residents, elected officials and environmental groups, the governor and the Cabinet on Tuesday embraced Progress Energy's controversial proposal to build a nuclear plant in Levy County -- the first such plant approved in Florida in 33 years. The vote by Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is not the final hurdle for Progress' plant, which still needs to secure federal approval. But the unanimous Cabinet endorsement -- with Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson absent -- helps cement what is likely to be a new era of nuclear plant construction, with Florida Power & Light also planning to build a new nuclear plant, at Turkey Point in Miami-Dade County.

Residents in Tallevast will have to live with contaminated ground water for almost 50 years, according to a revised cleanup plan submitted to the state by Lockheed Martin. But the aerospace giant, which is responsible for cleaning up the pollution in this small southern Manatee County community, hopes that the majority of the contaminants will be cleaned up in five years. A previous plan estimated the cleanup could take 100 years. Lockheed is planning to build a new, larger water treatment facility on the site of the former beryllium plant on Tallevast Road that caused the contamination.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available the public version of a combined license (COL) application for two new reactors at the Turkey Point site near Miami. The applicant, Florida Power & Light (FP&L), submitted the application and associated information June 30. The application, minus proprietary and security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html. FP&L's COL application seeks approval to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site, approximately 25 miles south of Miami. The AP1000 is a Westinghouse 1,100 MWe pressurized-water reactor design the NRC certified in 2006. Westinghouse submitted an application in May 2007 to amend the certified design. The design certification amendment application (minus proprietary and security-related details) is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/amended-ap1000.html.

It was one year ago that the environmental scientist showed up at Fred Slowman's door, deep in the heart of Navajo country, and warned that it was unsafe for him to stay there. The Slowman home, the same one-level cinderblock structure his family had lived in for nearly a half-century, was contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of uranium from the days of the cold war, when hundreds of uranium mines dotted the vast tribal land known as the Navajo Nation. The scientist advised Mr. Slowman, his wife and their two sons to move out until their home could be rebuilt.

While the state has given approval to construct two nuclear power plants nearby in Levy County, some local officials did not have any safety concerns about having a nuclear power plant so close. In fact, the only concern raised about building the plants centered on the financial impact they would have. "You don't really hear of any accidents involving nuclear reactors on Navy ships," Alachua City Commissioner Jean Calderwood said. "Looking back on the history of nuclear power plants, I would say we are standing on pretty solid ground." High Springs Mayor Jim Gabriel, who said he doesn't have much background knowledge of the proposed Levy plants, said he is generally in favor of a nuclear power plant.

Areva Inc has announced a five-year deal that will see it become the comprehensive supplier of services and products for Progress Energy's four nuclear power plants. The deal will see Areva provide refuelling and outage services, replace and repair plant equipment, and provide engineering and maintenance support plus other technical services to Progress Energy's plants in North and South Carolina and Florida.

The nearest cooling towers rest in Homestead, more than 100 miles away. So why did this small, unincorporated part of Lee County host a meeting about new safety rules for the nation's 63 nuclear power plants, one of only 11 such meetings being held across the nation? Call it the Nuclear Regulatory Commission roadshow. In its effort to cement a slate of new guidelines for preventing and responding to terrorist attacks on power plants, the federal nuclear watchdog recently hit the road to take comments on the proposed changes. Estero made the list of stops when an industry lobbying group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, scheduled its emergency preparation conference at the nearby Hyatt Regency. With scores of emergency experts from plants across the nation gathered in the area, and with a tight deadline to solicit public comment on the changes, the commission headed down to Florida.

After more than two million pounds of nuclear waste has piled up in South Dade over 35 years, Florida Power & Light is quietly seeking a zoning change to allow six acres of its Turkey Point site to be used for new above-ground storage casks. Environmentalists have known for a long time FPL planned to use casks but they knew little, if anything, about the need for a zoning change, which generally allows for public discussion that could lead to modifications of the utility's plans. ''It's news to me,'' said Lloyd Miller of the South Florida National Parks Trust. ''Haven't heard a thing,'' said Mark Oncavage, who follows South Florida energy issues for the Sierra Club. ``I definitely think we should have a say in this.''

Progress Energy's plans for its new Levy County nuclear plant hit another potential roadblock Wednesday when an arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the Green Party of Florida and two other groups can challenge the plant's federal permit. In a 112-page ruling, the NRC's Atomic Licensing Board found that the Green Party and its allies had successfully raised "certain major issues" about the plant's environmental impact that deserve a full-Fledged legal hearing with oral arguments. One issue: The utility has yet to figure out where it will send the new plant's radioactive waste, and thus may have to store it on site longer than expected.

Opposition to Progress Energy's proposed rate increases continued bubbling up this week amid public hearings across the state. Among the latest opponents: Mark Cooper, an economist and author on the financing of nuclear power reactors. Cooper told the Florida Public Service Commission that it is "not prudent" to proceed with plans for building new Progress Energy nuclear reactors in Levy County and a similar Florida Power & Light project near Miami. Cooper estimated it would cost $1.9 trillion to $4.1 trillion more over the life of 100 new nuclear reactors than it would to generate the same electricity from a combination of more energy efficiency and renewables. Separately, the business-affiliated group Associated Industries of Florida intervened for the first time on a rate case, backing Florida Power and Light's base rate increase. Associated Industries did not take a stance "at this time" on Progress Energy's filings. Progress is seeking to raise its base rates 30 percent and wants to add roughly $3 to the average monthly bill to help pay for its planned nuclear plant. On Thursday, community hearings were held in St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Hearings continue Friday in Inverness and Ocala and wrap up next week before the issue heads to the PSC.

A long-awaited revise of a plan for the cleaning up of toxic groundwater in this southern Manatee County community was submitted Tuesday to the state environmental regulators. Lockheed Martin officials delivered the Remedial Action Plan Addendum to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection offices in Temple Terrace late Tuesday afternoon. The addendum was a response to the DEP's March review of the revisions of a proposed clean-up plan Lockheed submitted more than a year ago.

The federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board on Wednesday granted standing to three petitioners who challenged the proposed Progress Energy Florida nuclear power plant in Levy County and will hear arguments on three of their legal arguments on why the plant shouldn't be built. The Green Party of Florida, the Ecology Party of Florida and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service argue:: *Progress Energy's environmental report inappropriately characterized as small certain impacts in building and operating the facility, including impacts to wetlands, the underlying Floridan aquifer system and the Withlacoochee and Waccasassa rivers, among other issues. *The environmental report assumes certain radioactive waste will be promptly shipped offsite and fails to address the environmental impacts if waste must be managed for a longer period. *The safety analysis report makes the same assumption about shipping and handling radioactive waste.

Nuclear power is considered by some energy experts to be the most effective answer to global warming due to the lack of C02 emissions. The only problem is the cost of building them, as well as the unresolved issue of what to do with radioactive waste. Technology has improved, and there is broad consensus that the new plants are safer and have reduced waste due to advanced reprocessing. But a new plant being built in Finland shows how big the problems are (see this New York Times article). The price for this plant went up to $4 billion and still isn't ready after four years construction. The article says a new plant would cost as much as $8 billion. (see our previous stories on the cost of nuclear projects in Florida here, and here).

Progress Energy's plans to build a $17 billion nuclear plant in rural Levy County will do more than just add advance charges to its customers' utility bills. The utility's plans also calls for wiping out about 765 acres of wetlands, according to a public notice posted recently by the agency that issues federal wetland permits, the Army Corps of Engineers. Yet Progress Energy plans to do little to replace their beneficial effect on the underground aquifer - even as the new power plant slurps up more than 1 million gallons of water a day from that source. At its peak, the plant could use more than 5 million gallons a day.

Area residents will have a chance to speak out on Progress Energy Florida electric rates and a controversial electricity charge at public forums to be held this summer. Nine hearings are planned, according to the state's Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers before the Florida Public Service Commission. The main focus will concern Progress Energy base rates that would go into effect in 2010, a Progress Energy spokesman, Tim Leljedal, said today.

That's how much time has passed since Lockheed Martin Corp. discovered an underground plume of toxic waste beneath an old beryllium plant it owned in Tallevast. And nearly a year has passed since Lockheed submitted its revised clean-up plan to state environmentalists, claiming it would take more than a half-century to clean up the spill. TIFFANY TOMPKINS-CONDIE/ttompkins@bradenton.com Tallevast Road through the small community greatly affected by the dangerous chemicals released from the old beryllium plant. Buy it: Order this photo now Buy it: Order this photo now Buy it: Order this photo now Buy it: Order this photo now Buy it: Order this photo now Buy it: Order this photo now CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS * * * * * * * Tallevast * Tallevast Special Section While limited clean-up of the beryllium plant campus is under way, the final clean-up plan still awaits state approval. The Department of Environmental Protection has sent Lockheed back to the drawing boards three times in the past nine months with requests for more information and modification.

Technical experts from Lockheed Martin and the community advocacy group FOCUS met Wednesday to discuss the clean-up proposal for toxic waste left behind from an old beryllium plant in this southern Manatee County neighborhood. The meeting was one in a series "to continue its collaboration with residents concerning the submission of the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Addendum to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, scheduled for July 14," according to a Thursday e-mail message from Gary Cambre, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin. The groundwater contamination was discovered in 2000, after Lockheed Martin purchased the the former Loral American Beryllium Company site in 1996. "At this meeting, Lockheed Martin provided an update on the groundwater modeling and the design of the groundwater treatment system," Cambre's e-mail stated.

Progress Energy customers have experienced a different kind of heat as the $9 billion dollar, privately owned, highly profitable utility company seeks further rate hikes. Those customers will have a chance to voice their displeasure at upcoming Florida Public Service Commission public hearings in Inverness and Ocala on Friday, July 17th (see details at the end). Progress Energy customers have already felt the sting of an allowance in a 2006 Florida law (s366.93) that permits the utility to pass along certain capital costs in rate hikes to customers.

Progress Energy announced Friday a 20-month delay in building its $17 billion nuclear plant, but its customers will continue to pay for it. The utility wants to raise its customers' monthly bills for the Levy County project even though it won't start producing power until March 2018 at the earliest. If approved, the average residential customer using 1,200 kilowatt hours a month will see the nuclear charge rise to approximately $8 a month starting in January from about $5 today.