Nuclear ?

Power company considers another nuclear plant on Gulf Coast

The Associated PressDecember 13, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG · Progress Energy Florida may build a nuclear power plant on the Gulf Coast a few miles north of its Crystal River plant, the company said Tuesday.Progress, the state's second-largest electric company, said last year that it is considering building another nuclear plant to meet Florida's growing power needs.Company officials said in a statement released Tuesday that the decision to move forward with the plant hasn't been finalized but that if the company decides to build, it would use a site in Levy County. The location is about seven miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and eight miles north of the company's Crystal River nuclear and coal-fueled power plants.Progress serves more than 1.6 million Florida customers, mostly in the St. Petersburg area and the Orlando suburbs.Progress CEO Jeff Lyash said the final decision wouldn't be made for at least a year, but said that the company expects demand in its service area to grow by more than 25 percent over the next 10 years.The state's largest electric company, Florida Power & Light Co., has notified government regulators of its intent to build another nuclear plant.A new plant would be the first in Florida since 1983, when FPL opened a second reactor at its St. Lucie nuclear complex near Fort Pierce.

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