Letter: Doubting the adequacy of Turkey Point’s safety systems

Re the Aug. 6 Miami Herald online article, “Climate change may slow down the Gulf Stream and cause even more sea rise in Florida:”: Despite President Donald Trump’s far-fetched opinions regarding climate change, Miami-Dade County is in jeopardy. With a weaker Gulf Stream, higher sea levels in Florida are inevitable.

As an engineer, it is my responsibility to hold paramount the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and thus, I sincerely worry about the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in South Florida.

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident occurred in Japan, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and amplified by a subsequent tsunami, which caused severe flooding and water damage to two of the plant’s nuclear reactors.

The probabilistic safety assessments did not address the possibility of internal flooding, although Fukushima was located on the coastal regions of Japan.

Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is located on the coast of Florida.

The plant’s elevation and ability to withstand Hurricane Andrew in 1992 have proved its robustness; however, Florida Power and Light (FPL) has failed to take into consideration climate change and the possibility of a stronger and more destructive hurricane in the future.

FPL has served the community by adding redundant safety systems and equipment to Turkey Point following the Fukushima disaster. However, I am apprehensive about how these systems will react in the future with simultaneously disasters.

These concerns should be immediately brought to FPL’s attention. I could not fathom seeing my home uninhabitable because of a nuclear meltdown.

Laryssa Bedley,

Plantation