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September 8, 2017

Florida Nuclear Plants in Path of Hurricane Shut Down
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Elsewhere, Florida Power & Light said Thursday it was shutting down a
pair of nuclear power plants ahead of the storm. The twin-reactor Turkey
Point plant, which is 20 feet above sea level, lies just south of Miami
on the coast, directly in the path of Irma's expected landfall. Further
north on Florida's Atlantic coast is the twin-reactor St. Lucie nuclear
plant. In order to avoid meltdowns, both plants must maintain constant
power to ensure the cooling of nuclear fuel rods in their reactors, as
well as highly radioactive spent fuel rods kept in storage pools on
site.


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