That Bad Turkey Point...Where did all that tritium come from? By Geniusofdespair

From the 22 page County document below.

Tritium (/ˈtrɪtiəm/ or /ˈtrɪʃiəm/; symbol T or 3H, also known as hydrogen-3) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium (sometimes called a triton) contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium (by far the most abundant hydrogen isotope) contains one proton and no neutrons.

Article in the Miami Herald Today about State easing restrictions on cooling canals which puzzles me in light of this announcement by the DEP, see link.

Exhibit 1 Units 3 & 4 Uprate Implementation Water Quality Issues B (PDF Graphs).Key

Read on Scrib

From Barry White of CASE, who is watching this issue closely:


FPL is regulated by Federal and State authorities.The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the  South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). Long ago the NRC gave regulation to the land side of Turkey Point Nuclear Units 3 & 4 to the FDEP. Currently Miami-Dade County and other local interests are challenging, or thinking about challenging, a ruling (Administrative Order/AO) issued by FDEP on December 23, 2014 directing FPL to take certain actions.at Turkey Point to correct the problems in the cooling canals. Those filings would be  before the FDEP which would be heard by a Florida State administrative law judge panel.

But Citizens Allied for Safe Energy (CASE)  filed a motion before the Federal NRC in October, 2014 contending that the real problem is the uprate (increase in operating temperature) to Nuclear Reactors Units 3 & 4  done in 2012/2013; FPL’s own data show that the problems occurred after the uprate. But, because the State agencies (FDEP and SFWMD) can only issue orders regarding the land, not the reactors themselves, even if the reactors are the problem. And NRC Staff says they do not have control over the land, the State does.

On January 14, 2015 in Homestead CASE argued before three judges sent down by the NRC to hear its contentions that this finger pointing is the problem.  There is responsibility without authority, and authority without responsibility. CASE held that the NRC has final responsibility for everything under the 1954 and 1974 Federal Acts which created them.  The judges have 45 days from the hearing to rule. CASE suggested that the reactors be scaled back in their operation until an independent inquiry of scientists and engineers can determine what are the real problems.

Freshwater is the real problem; there is not enough to keep the cooling canals functional and to do what freshwater has done for eons; hold back saltwater intrusion, provide habitat for hatchling and juvenile sea life in the Biscayne Bay estuary and to provide fresh water for agriculture and to sustain human and plant life. Ultimately CASE would like to see no energy produced at Turkey Point with the land cleaned up and returned to nature, with renewable energy on our homes, businesses and institutions and energy conservation practiced widely.

Barry J. White
President
Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Inc./CASE