Turkey Point nuclear power plant license extended to 80 years (US)

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) application for an additional 20 years of operation for its two Turkey Point PWR reactors 3 and 4, located about 40 km south of Miami (Florida). With this decision, the NRC expands for the first-time reactor operation from 60 to 80 years. New license expires in July 2052 for unit 3 and in April 2053 for unit 4. The two reactors have been commissioned in 1972 (unit 3; 837 MW net) and 1973 (unit 4; 821 MW net), with an initial 40 years duration. Their lifetime has already been expanded by the NRC for a further 20 years in 2002.

In April 2018, the NRC has approved the combined construction and operating licences (COLs) for two new nuclear reactor projects rated 1,100 MW each proposed by FPL to be built at its Turkey Point nuclear power plant. FPL has yet to take a final investment decision (FID) on whether or not to move forward with building the two new reactors (Units 5 & 6) that were planned to replace Units 3 & 4. They are scheduled for commissioning in 2031 and 2032, respectively.

The NRC has already extended the lifetime of a large majority of the US reactor fleet, so that a majority of them could have 60-year lifetime but most operators are already considering applying for another 20-year extension, allowing reactors built in the 1970s to operate until 2050 and beyond. This initiative has received support from the Department of Energy. In September 2019, Duke Energy announced that it will submit 20-year licence renewal applications for 11 nuclear reactors representing a total capacity of 10.7 GW. Ten reactors accounting for a total capacity of 10 GW are planned to be closed by 2025.