The nation's chief nuclear watchdog will tour Turkey Point on Tuesday, a visit that follows recent six-figure fines imposed on Florida Power & Light for its hired guards sleeping and carrying disabled weapons while on duty.
The visit from Dale Klein, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, isn't a formal safety inspection of the sprawling power complex in South-Miami Dade County -- but isn't a routine courtesy call, either.
''Clearly, Turkey Point has had a number of issues lately both in security operations and plant management that we wanted to have some discussions with them about,'' said Eliot Brenner, the NRC's director of public affairs in Washington, D.C.
Security will be on the agenda, as well as FPL's plans to upgrade power output of the two existing reactors and add two more by 2020.
Also on the table: other operating issues that have not risen to the level of formal violations, including recent NRC inspections noting excessive overtime for plant operators -- with some working 72-hour, or even 80-hour weeks.
Brenner said the NRC has not found major concerns at Turkey Point but visits from the chairman are intended to reinforce safety issues at plants that have had problems or been in the headlines, Brenner said.
Klein is making a side trip from a Monday conference in Orlando to meet with FPL's plant managers.
''A visit from a chairman is not an ordinary occurrence,'' Brenner said.
Dick Winn, an FPL spokesman, said the utility acts as quickly as possible to address issues raised by regulators and NRC inspectors, some who work on-site.
''There is no such thing as a minor issue when we're operating a nuclear power plant. We treat everything seriously,'' Winn said.
He said plant managers were looking forward to the visit.
``We have a good story to tell and we're making significant improvements.''
In April, the NRC proposed fining FPL $130,000 over multiple occasions from 2004 to 2006 when Wackenhut-supplied security guards were ''willfully inattentive,'' fell asleep on duty or covered for sleeping colleagues.
The guards no longer work at Turkey Point, FPL says.
The utility is seeking more details on the violation, which the NRC filed in October, before deciding to accept the fine.
FPL also has agreed to pay a $208,000 fine in separate January report involving two Wackenhut guards who had removed firing pins from their weapons.
In addition, NRC inspection reports since 2007 show a number of additional ''non-cited violations'' -- issues considered of ''very low'' security or safety significance.
A security baseline inspection on Oct. 26, 2007, noted two such deficiencies but the NRC and FPL will not discuss details, citing security issues.
An NRC inspection completed March 31 also found a noncited violation of documenting and assigning overtime for two nuclear plant operators later involved in a Jan. 29 spill of 200 gallons of boric acid, which is used to control nuclear fission in reactors.
The report doesn't indicate anyone was hurt but calls the spill safety-related.
One operator had worked 72.5 hours and was then assigned an eight-hour day, without a required waiver.
A second had worked 69 hours in six days than assigned to 16.75 hours.
Inspectors also found 21 overtime deviations for 17 plant operators in the first six weeks of the year -- without any documented fatigue assessments.
Under NRC policy, the goal is for operators to work eight hours a day and 40-hour weeks to prevent fatigue that might affect decision-making or reactions.
The report notes that FPL changes shift in mid-February to reduce routine overtime demands.
FPL and federal regulators agree that staff shortages are a growing problem for a long-moribund industry that suddenly faces longtime employees retiring.
With the NRC expecting applications from at least 21 utilities by 2009 to build 32 reactors nationwide by 2020, understaffed plants and overtaxed workers could become an increasing concern -- unless prospects of industry growth draw more workers.
''It's not an everyday finding but it's not unusual,'' said Ken Clark, a spokesman for the NRC's regional office in Atlanta. ``This is an ongoing issue at all nuclear plants from time to time.''
Winn said FPL isn't trying to save labor costs with overtime assignments and is aggressively trying to address staffing issues with financial incentives to keep existing workers and recruiting efforts at colleges to lure new ones, including in Miami-Dade County.
''It's a high-level awareness,'' he said. ``We've always got it on our radar screen.''
