Julie Harrington, Ph.D., reports in a NEI funded study that the FPL nuclear operations play an important role in the health of Florida economy. The economic benefits these operations generate directly through wages and the purchase of goods and other services are considerable. These benefits are felt strongly by municipalities and businesses locally, throughout the region and the state.
This report details that in 2013 alone, FPL nuclear operations generated a total of 1.2 billion dollars of economic output in the counties around the Turkey Point and St. Lucie power plants, 1.4 billion dollars of economic output statewide, and 2.5 billion dollars of economic output across the United States.
FPL nuclear operations directly employ approximately 1,600 people and support an additional 4,200 jobs throughout Florida. Of the direct jobs, the wages at the plant sites are on average more than twice those of others in those areas. During refueling outages, which take place approximately every 18 months at each reactor, about 1,500 skilled contractors are on site. They boost the local economies by utilizing hotels, restaurants and stores. In addition to its current operations, FPL is pursuing licensing to create the option to build two new nuclear units at Turkey Point. FPL estimates indicate that the new power reactors at Turkey Point would save customers more that 100 billion dollars in fuel costs over a 60-year life span.
Beyond the economic benefits, FPL nuclear units also operate in harmony with the environment on small portions of the land on which they are located. The sites help to protect local wildlife and avoid the emission of more than 15 million tons of carbon-dioxide.
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