Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest utility in Florida, said September 7 it would shut down its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants in the hopes of limiting potential damage from Hurricane Irma. The facilities are the only operating nuclear plants in the state.

FPL did not give specific timing for the shutdown, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it expects Turkey Point, located south of Miami, will be taken offline the evening of September 8, with the St. Lucie facility on Hutchinson Island, north of West Palm Beach, likely being shut down early on September 9. The effects of Irma, which could be the most-destructive hurricane to ever strike Florida, are expected to be felt in south Florida on Saturday, with conditions worsening throughout the weekend.

The two plants are each about 20 feet above sea level. The plants are protected by concrete and steel barriers, and were further reinforced for protection after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, when floodwaters from a tsunami after an earthquake caused multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.…

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