Deliberate and gradual shut down of power plants Both of FPL's nuclear power plants, Turkey Point and St. Lucie, have completed their site preparations and are closely monitoring the storm. The nuclear units will be shut down in a deliberate and gradual manner well in advance of the onset of hurricane force winds. In addition, the National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning for the area that includes the Turkey Point Power Plant. After the warning was issued, FPL declared an Unusual Event as required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and we expect NRC will issue a press release acknowledging this declaration. The Unusual Event emergency classification is required as a matter of procedure anytime a hurricane warning is issued for a nuclear plant's location; there is no impact to public safety and no public action required.
"It's important for our customers to know that our Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants are two of the strongest structures in the world with the main portions of the plant encased in a 6-foot thick cement structure reinforced by steel. In addition, these nuclear facilities have multiple safety systems and layers of redundancy, and they are elevated well above sea level – approximately 20 feet – to protect against flooding and extreme storm surges. We continue to coordinate closely with federal regulators to ensure safety is always the top priority in everything we do," added Silagy.
In addition, we may power down some of our natural gas power plants that are in the path of the storm as part of our standard safety protocols. This mitigates damage to our plants and equipment and allows us to bring the site online faster following a storm. That said, FPL will have adequate supply of power to meet customer needs.