Nuke plant leak leads to indefinite shutdown of Miami reactor

One of the two nuclear reactors at Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point plant near Miami has been taken off-line because of a leak, according to the Miami Herald.

Roger Hannah, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the problem was caused by a small leak in a pipe. The shutdown started on Friday afternoon and was completed on Sunday after several discussions between NRC staff and FPL, the Herald reports.

FPL spokesman Tom Veenstra said there was never any danger to the public. The event report filed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the shut-down was ''required by technical specifications'' after a leak developed from a ``structural weld crack. . . . The cause of the crack is being evaluated.''

Fueling Station readers may recall Turkey Point made news earlier this year when the NRC hit FPL with a $130,000 fine because security guards had been caught catnapping, and when the state Public Service Commission gave FPL permission to build additional nuclear plants at Turkey Point.

[Turkey Point photo courtesy FPL]

--Craig Pittman