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Florida doesn't get much more rural than Levy County.
Situated 90 miles north of Tampa, between the Gulf of Mexico and Ocala, the area boasts no major cities or interstates. The entire county's population is less than Dunedin's. Much of the area is dotted with ranches and trailer parks. Unemployment runs high. Republican politicians run unopposed.
It's the perfect place to propose a nuclear power plant. And last year, Progress Energy did just that.
It bought a 3,100-acre parcel of undeveloped land in southern Levy and submitted applications to federal and state officials to construct two nuclear reactors. If approved, the nuclear plant would be the first built in more than 30 years. Progress Energy hopes to have it online in 2016.
Despite the distance, the plant will affect Tampa Bay residents in at least one aspect: our wallets. Starting next spring, we'll fund the $17 billion project with a 25-percent rate hike in our Progress Energy electricity bills.
You can't see Progress Energy's proposed nuclear plant site from the road. Trees block the view from every side. According to spokeswoman Jessica Lambert, Progress Energy bought 3,100 acres to buffer the plant from the rest of the county.
"We're building in the center of that property," she says. "Nobody will be able to see the cooling towers."
The closest population center is Inglis, a tiny town consisting of little more than a few restaurants, a Dollar General and five churches. The town's only claim to fame is a 2001 proclamation banning Satan from city limits.
In a small fishing town like Inglis, the bait shop is like the barbershop. Every day, the white-haired owner of Hook-Line and Sinker Bait Shop, Jerry Homa, talks with locals about the weather, which fish are biting and the future.
"I think most people support it," he says about the nuclear plant. "Except the older people who have been here 30 or 40 years. They don't want the change. They're afraid of change."
Homa cautiously supports the nuclear plant, too. Area jobs are scarce, he points out. Besides, the warm water discharge from the plant will help fishing in the wintertime.
Down the road at the town's gas station, a clerk named Lindy sums up her neighbors' opinions in three words: "People need work."
If approved, Progress Energy estimates up to 3,000 people will work on the plant's construction. Another 2,000 positions may be created through auxiliary jobs like new housing and restaurants. After construction, Progress Energy will employ 800-900 workers.
But nobody mentions many of those jobs will require specialized training and college degrees. Only 10 percent of Levy County residents hold a four-year degree.
Contractor Robert Smith knows the plan could help his business, but he's still against it. Smith and his wife live a mile south of the proposed plant. If Progress Energy constructs it, they'll be able to see nuclear reactors from their porch.
"It's better than having a Wal-Mart or a housing project in our backyard," he says, "but it's still pretty freaky."
Last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came to town. The federal body responsible for issuing nuclear plant licenses held two public meetings on the proposed plant. As NRC environmental impact manager Doug Bruner told a crowd, they're conducting an environmental impact study, and "you know your environment best."
NRC officials invited the public to a National Guard armory in Crystal River that normally hosts pro-wrestling matches. But on this afternoon, a different kind of Battle Royal took place between nuclear supporters and detractors, the Chamber of Commerce types who have benefited financially from Progress Energy and the flannel-wearing older residents worried about terrorist attacks and Three Mile Island.
"I remember these power plants going up 35 years ago," said Levy County native Jeff Edison, superintendent of Levy County Schools. "These plants offer a lot of economic and job opportunities for the kids of Levy County."
Thomas Epps, an older man in a Mr. Roger's sweater, made a point to say he drove a Toyota Prius.
"Some things last forever," he said. "Like nuclear waste."
During a second public meeting later in the evening, the metal chairs inside the Armory filled up again. This time, there were no Progress Energy folks and a lot more environmental activists, most of whom drove from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
"How many people would like to live next to a nuclear power plant?" asks one woman with the Florida Green Party.
Several people raise their hands. The woman continues her comments, annoyed.
Later, a nearby ranch owner launches into a five-minute long speech on the virtues of Progress Energy. Suddenly, the lights go out, plunging the room into darkness.
"Does Progress Energy provide the electricity here?" asks an out-of-town activist.
The local next to her responds dryly, "Yup."
COMMENTS
RE: Progress Energy plans nuclear power plant north of Tampa
Posted by longview on 09.05.09 @ 01:54 PM
Some people stand to make a whole lot of money if this plant gets built. Will they be honest about the risks?
For those of us living near the reactors (I'm 50 miles away), personally I want more than promises of jobs. What i've been reading recently on the health effects and dangers of nuclear plants makes me very skeptical.
For example, here's an article about a couple who was hired by Three Mile Island to study what went wrong. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy's Nuclear program, she is a nuclear physicist.
"What the Thompsons say they found out during their time inside Three Mile Island suggests radiation releases from the plant were hundreds if not thousands of times higher than the government and industry have acknowledged -- high enough to cause the acute health effects documented in people living near the plant but that have been dismissed by the industry and the government as impossible given official radiation dose estimates."
the article is here:
http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/04/post-4.html
I'm not as worried about myself at this point, but I would like this area to be a healthy place for my children and grandchildren to live. Nuclear is just too risky. No thanks.
RE: Progress Energy plans nuclear power plant north of Tampa
Posted by ajg on 02.24.09 @ 09:41 AM
Hmmm.........so many naysayers that are not educated in the least about nuclear power. I currently work at a Nuclear Power Plant. I spent six years in the Nuclear Navy. Cancer, radioactive waste, and dangerous leaks...oh my! Listen, fossil fuel fired power plants produce a tremendous amount of waste products to the environment and are much more dangerous to our livelihood than nuclear will ever be. They are getting better, but nonetheless.........still not clean.
Everyone gets more radiation exposure from our very own naturally occurring reactor plant (the sun!!) than they ever will from a man-made nuclear plant.
Have we had accidents (i.e. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island), yes, but you need to educate yourselves on why these incidents happened and realize that you can't remotely compare Russian nuclear technology to ours. Three Mile Island was an accident that the whole industry has learned from and takes into consideration every minute of every day that a plant is operating!! Safety is paramount at Nuclear plants and I love how the environmentalists want you to believe nuclear is horrible. They are kind of like religious fanatics preaching about armageddon being near.
Solar and other renewable energy sources are far from being the answer at this point. Solar panels are anywhere between 10 and 15% efficent in their production of energy. Just imagine the cost of a solar array that could produce as much energy as a nuclear plant can at those efficiency rates. Satellites use solar power for energy and they cost billions of dollars. I know not all of that cost is for production of energy, but it is a large part. Wind farms are nearly as inefficent and are costly as well.
Also, you're telling me that environmentalist won't have just as big a problem with the contruction of solar arrays that take up hundreds to thousands of acres for their construction and might not allow enough light to get to the poor animals and plants that are accustom to it? Or wind farms required to be built in windy areas where lots of agricultural land will need to be overrun in order to build? They always need something to gripe about and inevitably they will find it!
As far as radioactive waste goes, you can thank Obama for removing the opportunity to use Yucca Mountain. Plus, radioactive elements are naturally occurring and take thousands of years to decay without our help. People don't understand that Radon can be more dangerous than nuclear waste. Nuclear waste, properly contained, poses no more of a threat than a kitten that has been declawed.
Personally, I would love the opportunity to work at the new Levy county plant. I love Florida and think this would provide a large economic boost to the economy there. Lord knows everyone needs an economic boost right now. I'm off my soapbox now...........
RE: Progress Energy plans nuclear power plant north of Tampa
Posted by alachuagreen on 02.23.09 @ 12:51 AM
STOP THE $20 BILLION NUCLEAR BOONDOGGLE!
Press Release: Florida Greens file petition against NRC licensing of Levy County nuclear plant
Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
Green Party of Florida
http://www.floridagreens.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2009
Contact: Michael Canney, 386-418-3791, alachuagreen@gmail.com
Green Party files Petition to Intervene in NRC licensing of Levy County Nuclear Plant,joins Nuclear Information and Resource Service to challenge deficiencies in Progress Energy Combined Operating License Application (COLA)
Gainesville, FL -- On February 6, 2009 the Green Party of Florida (GPF, http://www.floridagreens.org) joined with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS, http://www.nirs.org) and the Ecology Party to file a legal challenge to a new nuclear power plant proposed by Progress Energy Florida (PEF) for a site in Levy County, near Inglis, Florida.
The filing is a formal Petition to Intervene in the NRC's licensing process for nuclear power plants, the latest in a series of such actions taken by NIRS and other groups nationwide to protect the health and safety of the public and the natural resources that are placed at risk by this industry. The interventions by parties with standing, which must follow rules established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), are intended to stop these nuclear boondoggles before construction work starts and millions of dollars are wasted.
PEF is seeking a license from the NRC to build the proposed Levy County Units 1 and 2 atomic reactors, on a site near the Gulf Coast that is the only "greenfield" site (no existing nuclear power facility) currently proposed east of the Mississippi River.
Among the contentions asserted in this Petition to Intervene:
Real options of energy efficiency and distributed generation with renewable energy options have not been adequately considered.
Progress Energy Florida does not meet financial qualification requirements.
Aquatic and radioactive waste impacts have not been adequately considered.
The Levy County project licensing is premature since the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design remains incomplete.
In all, 26 contentions challenging the Progress Energy Application were included, supported by four experts.
The Green Party joins hundreds or organizations and thousands of individuals in endorsing the NIRS Statement on Climate and Nuclear Power, which states:
"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."
The Green Party has always opposed nuclear fission technology as a means of generating electricity, and the abundance of clean, safe renewable alternatives in today's energy marketplace makes nuclear power obsolete, from both an economic and ecological perspective. Investor Owned Utilities such as Progress Energy could not generate profits from nuclear power generation without federal loan guarantees, tax breaks, and massive subsidies that shift the costs of the nuclear industry to taxpayers.
Greens call upon municipal utilities in Florida to explore all the available options for implementing aggressive conservation measures and investment in decentralized, renewable energy technologies. Merely by installing low-tech solar thermal water heaters on residential homes, electricity consumption could be reduced by 8-10%. The public should not be forced to subsidize nuclear power plants when proven solutions are available at far less risk and less cost as well. Gainesville Regional Utilities has rejected nuclear power as an alternative to coal, and instead of buying into the Levy Nuclear Plant, which will be located less than 50 miles from downtown Gainesville, GRU and the Gainesville City Commission opted to enact the nation's first Solar Power Feed-In Tariff ordinance.
PEF can't count on private investors to finance the nuclear plant, so the company obtained permission from the Florida Public Service Commission to raise utility rates by 23%, about half of which will be used to cover the costs of development and construction of the Levy County Nuclear Plant. "The 'Early Cost Recovery' scam is little more than legalized theft from utility customers, and it should be immediately repealed by the Florida legislature," said MIchael Canney, Alachua County Green Party co-chair and member of the GPF Green Energy Committee. "Progress Energy can't get private investors to finance this $20 billion boondoggle, so they are forcing their customers to become investors."
In 2007, the GPF worked with the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition to draft a comprehensive "green paper" on energy policy, which has this to say about the radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants:
"There is no safe method to dispose of or store the radioactive waste produced. All six of the 'low-level' nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. There are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, there is no such thing as nuclear waste 'disposal.' Current methods of underground storage are a danger to present and future generations. Any nuclear waste management strategies must be above ground, continuously monitored, and they must minimize transportation of wastes."
--Green Paper on Climate Change and Energy Options for the State of Florida (http://pbcec.blogspot.com/search?q=Green+Paper+on+Climate+Change) by Green Party of Florida & Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition
The design of the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors PRF plans to install in the Levy Nuclear Plant continues to undergo revisions, even as PEF and the NRC proceed with the licensing of this plant. The NRC can't prove the proposed reactor designs are safe, but is allowing PEF to proceed with licensing anyway, which places the burden of proof on the public to demonstrate the potential problems with this technology.
The proposed nuclear plant will need more than 20 million gallons of water daily to cool the reactors, and PEF is drilling a private well field on site to draw millions of gallons of fresh water from the aquifer, yet PEF claims this project will have no detrimental effect on the local aquatic system.
In addition to participating in this Petition to Intervene in the NRC licensing process, Greens are joining with others concerned about climate change and energy policy to build a broad, community-based alliance to stop the Levy County Nuclear Plant and oppose subsidies for fossil fuels and the nuclear industry, while promoting investment in clean, safe, renewable and sustainable energy technologies.
"We don't see a push for solar energy here in the 'sunshine state' even in the form of off-setting our energy needs, said Jennifer Sullivan, co-chair of the Hernando County Green Party. "Solar technology is working in less sunny climates and as far north as Scandinavia. Think how many jobs could be created by investing in solar equipment manufacturing firms and by putting solar panels on every roof in the state!"
For more information:
Green Party of Florida http://www.floridagreens.org
Alachua County Green Party http://gainesvillegreens.webs.com
Nuclear Information and Resource Service http://www.nirs.org
Documents re PEF Levy County nuke plant:application on Florida DEP site: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/siting/Highlights/applications.htm
References on nuclear power:
Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy http://www.ieer.org/carbonfree/index.html
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research http://www.ieer.org
Rocky Mountain Institute http://www.rmi.org
Union of Concerned Scientists - Nuclear Power http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power
PETITION TO INTERVENE AND REQUEST FOR HEARING In the Matter of PROGRESS ENERGY FLORIDA, Levy County Nuclear Station Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 52-029 COL & 52-030 COL Feburary 6, 2009 http://www.nirs.org/nukerelapse/levy/levyhome.htm
Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, a new study by CPA Craig Severance, finds that escalating reactor construction and operating costs could lead to electricity from new nukes as high as 25-30 cents per kw/h-significantly higher than industry estimates. http://www.nirs.org/neconomics/nuclearcosts2009.pdf