Press Release-12-080, NRC Approves Increased Power Output for St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-12-080: NRC Approves Increased Power Output for St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant

ML12191A226
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	07/09/2012
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
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Press Release-12-080
Download: ML12191A226 (1)

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• • • CORRECTED***

NRC APPROVES INCREASED POWER OUTPUT FOR ST. LUCIE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Florida Power & Light (FP&L) to increase the power level of St. Lucie Unit 1 by 12 percent. The power uprate for the pressurized

-water reactor, located approximately 10 miles southeast of Ft. Pierce, Fla., will increase the unit's thermal power level from 2 ,700 to 3,020 megawatts thermal.

The uprate translates into an increase in the plant

's electricity generating capacity of 15 percent, from approximately 853 to 982 megawatts electric.

The NRC staff's careful evaluation determined that FP&L could safely increase the reactors' power output primarily by carrying out significant upgrades to several plant systems and components, including the feedwater pumps and the high

-pressure turbine. As part of its evaluation, NRC staff reviewed the company's analysis showing the plant's design can accommodate the increased power level.

The NRC's safety evaluation of the plant's proposed power uprate focused on several areas, including the nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, fire protection, operations and training, testing, and technical specification changes.

FP&L intends to implement the uprate in the next few months.

The NRC previously published a notice about the power uprate application in the Federal Register. The agency's evaluation of the St. Lucie Unit 1 power uprate will be available through the NRC's ADAMS electronic document database by searching for accession number ML12181A019, using the "Simple Search" tab. ### NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record any portion of a NRC meeting should contact the Office of Public Affairs beforehand.

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. NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415

-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555

-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public

-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No.12-080 July 9, 2012