The Florida legislature ought to immediately convene to hear why hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent for two new nuclear reactors when the financial feasibility of FPL's plan has been plunged further into the future.
The manufacturer of FPL's reactors, the Westinghouse nuclear division of Toshiba Corp., is experiencing a financial meltdown yet FPL continues to invest ratepayer dollars in a process that adds profit to shareholders without delivering any benefits to ratepayers.
SACE: FPL should end new nuclear reactors as Toshiba-Westinghouse falters
Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post
January 31, 2017
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a clean energy advocacy group, said Monday that Florida Power & Light Co. should halt the proposed addition of two more nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point plant south of Miami.
That’s because the multi-national company slated to build two new reactors, known as units 6 and 7, has said it is leaving the nuclear construction business, according to published reports.
Tokyo-based Toshiba, parent company of Westinghouse, the firm selected to design and build two AP1000 reactors at the plant, said Jan. 27, that it made the decision to prevent further losses. It has forecast a deficit in the billions for Westinghouse for the business year ending in March.
“FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear expansion project was questionable from the beginning and now nearly a decade later with hundreds of millions of customers’ dollars spent, there is even less likelihood that this risky, expensive project will ever materialize,” said Stephen Smith, SACE’s executive director.
“Until the fallout from Toshiba-Westinghouses’s financial meltdown can be better understood, several things must happen at the state and federal levels,” Smith said.
Toshiba has indicated it will design and manufacture nuclear reactors, but it will depart from the construction business.
Juno Beach-based FPL spokesman Peter Robbins said, “SACE is a well-known anti-utility, anti-nuclear political group that has a demonstrated track record of attacking electric utilities with lies and misleading claims. Nothing it says can be trusted and we certainly aren’t going to feed into their scare tactics.
“That said, FPL continues to take a cautious and careful approach with this project that first and foremost protects our customers. We also have said all along that creating the option for two additional nuclear units at our existing Turkey Point facility is an important step to meet south Florida’s growing energy needs with safe, reliable, emissions-free electricity,” Robbins said.
Westinghouse is building four nuclear reactors in the U.S., two in Georgia and two in South Carolina for power companies. Those projects are experiencing major cost overruns.
FPL submitted its application for a license for the two new Turkey Point reactors in 2009, but the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not yet issued the license.
The Florida Public Service Commission has approved collection from FPL customers of more than $282 million in costs associated with the planned reactors.
Smith asserts that the Florida PSC needs to immediately stop FPL from collecting any further charges from ratepayers for Turkey Point 6 and 7 as there is no way any additional expenses can be deemed as a prudent investment.
“The PSC should also begin an investigation on the ramifications of Westinghouse being out of the nuclear construction business. Any state permitting of this project for transmission lines and other needs has to stop,” Smith said.
“The NRC should investigate as well and report to the public, state and federal agencies as to what this means for not only FPL’s proposed reactors, but any proposed AP1000 project and the delayed, over-budget four reactors under construction at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia and SCANA’s V.C. Summer in South Carolina.
“And last, but certainly not least, FPL has to come clean and report to their customers via the PSC on the actual economic feasibility of this project, which they failed to do last year. Not one more dollar of customers’ money should be spent on this debacle. Customers will only truly be protected if FPL admits that the Turkey Point expansion project is uneconomical and stops wasting their customers’ limited financial resources,” Smith said.
The manufacturer of FPL's reactors, the Westinghouse nuclear division of Toshiba Corp., is experiencing a financial meltdown yet FPL continues to invest ratepayer dollars in a process that adds profit to shareholders without delivering any benefits to ratepayers.
SACE: FPL should end new nuclear reactors as Toshiba-Westinghouse falters
Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post
January 31, 2017
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a clean energy advocacy group, said Monday that Florida Power & Light Co. should halt the proposed addition of two more nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point plant south of Miami.
That’s because the multi-national company slated to build two new reactors, known as units 6 and 7, has said it is leaving the nuclear construction business, according to published reports.
Tokyo-based Toshiba, parent company of Westinghouse, the firm selected to design and build two AP1000 reactors at the plant, said Jan. 27, that it made the decision to prevent further losses. It has forecast a deficit in the billions for Westinghouse for the business year ending in March.
“FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear expansion project was questionable from the beginning and now nearly a decade later with hundreds of millions of customers’ dollars spent, there is even less likelihood that this risky, expensive project will ever materialize,” said Stephen Smith, SACE’s executive director.
“Until the fallout from Toshiba-Westinghouses’s financial meltdown can be better understood, several things must happen at the state and federal levels,” Smith said.
Toshiba has indicated it will design and manufacture nuclear reactors, but it will depart from the construction business.
Juno Beach-based FPL spokesman Peter Robbins said, “SACE is a well-known anti-utility, anti-nuclear political group that has a demonstrated track record of attacking electric utilities with lies and misleading claims. Nothing it says can be trusted and we certainly aren’t going to feed into their scare tactics.
“That said, FPL continues to take a cautious and careful approach with this project that first and foremost protects our customers. We also have said all along that creating the option for two additional nuclear units at our existing Turkey Point facility is an important step to meet south Florida’s growing energy needs with safe, reliable, emissions-free electricity,” Robbins said.
Westinghouse is building four nuclear reactors in the U.S., two in Georgia and two in South Carolina for power companies. Those projects are experiencing major cost overruns.
FPL submitted its application for a license for the two new Turkey Point reactors in 2009, but the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not yet issued the license.
The Florida Public Service Commission has approved collection from FPL customers of more than $282 million in costs associated with the planned reactors.
Smith asserts that the Florida PSC needs to immediately stop FPL from collecting any further charges from ratepayers for Turkey Point 6 and 7 as there is no way any additional expenses can be deemed as a prudent investment.
“The PSC should also begin an investigation on the ramifications of Westinghouse being out of the nuclear construction business. Any state permitting of this project for transmission lines and other needs has to stop,” Smith said.
“The NRC should investigate as well and report to the public, state and federal agencies as to what this means for not only FPL’s proposed reactors, but any proposed AP1000 project and the delayed, over-budget four reactors under construction at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia and SCANA’s V.C. Summer in South Carolina.
“And last, but certainly not least, FPL has to come clean and report to their customers via the PSC on the actual economic feasibility of this project, which they failed to do last year. Not one more dollar of customers’ money should be spent on this debacle. Customers will only truly be protected if FPL admits that the Turkey Point expansion project is uneconomical and stops wasting their customers’ limited financial resources,” Smith said.
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