Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Florida Follows Trend of Reactor Head Replacement Projects

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Ever since the shutdown of First Energy Corporation's Davis-Besse (Oak Harbor, Ohio) nuclear plant in 2002, due to the detection of reactor vessel head corrosion, almost every Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) plant owner is replacing reactor vessel heads, as a preventive measure. Deposits of boric acid, used in PWRs to moderate the nuclear reaction, caused the corrosion. Boric acid reached the vessel head though a small leak in the reactor vessel head nozzles.

Such is the case for the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Station, owned and operated by Florida Power & Light Company (Homestead, Florida), the largest investor-owned Florida utility and a subsidiary of FPL Group Incorporated (NYSE: FPL) (Juno Beach, Florida). Sitting on a 3,300 acre site, east of Homestead, in Dade County, 24 miles south of Miami, Florida, Turkey Point Nuclear consists of two (Units 3&4) 760-megawatt Westinghouse PWRs, with two tandem-compound turbine and generator sets. Unit 3 came on line in 1972, and its operating license expires in 2012. Unit 4 came on line in 1973 with expiration date in 2013.

Detailed engineering is being performed on Unit 3 for a 70-day reactor head replacement and refueling project slated for the fall of 2004. The reactor head replacement for Unit 4 is scheduled for the spring of 2005. Turkey Point fossil fuel plant (Units 1&2) is also on the same site.

The estimated $13-million (per unit) reactor head replacement is one of the best economic options to ensure the long- term dependability of the plant. The reactor vessel head is the cap on the steel container, the reactor vessel that contains the nuclear fuel. The reactor vessel is housed in a massive, leak-tight structure with walls of steel concrete several feet thick. The project scope includes removal and storage of the reactor vessel head, plus removal and storage of the pressurizer and reactor vessel missile shields. Refueling activities will also be performed.

Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power) (Lynchburg, Virginia) has signed a contract with Florida Power & Light to do their entire reactor head replacements. A joint venture of Framatome and Siemens in June 2000, Framatome ANP is the world's leading nuclear supplier of nuclear fuel and related products, license renewal, and power uprates as well. Siemens (Munich, Germany) manufactures nuclear fuel rods and the processing of plutonium. Siemens built all of the nineteen nuclear power plants operating in Germany.

The Steam Generating Team (SGT) (Charlotte, North Carolina) will provide engineering services for the project. SGT is a limited liability company jointly owned by Duke Engineering Services (DE&S) and Washington Group International Incorporated. DE&S (Charlotte, North Carolina) provides engineering, and technical services to clients worldwide. Washington Group International (Boise, Idaho) serves in generation planning, construction and engineering, plus operations maintenance.