The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized its staff to issue Combined Licenses for Florida Power and Light’s Turkey Point site in Florida. The licenses grant FPL permission to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site, about 25 miles south of Miami.

The Commission authorized the agency’s Office of New Reactors to issue the licenses after conducting a hearing Dec. 12, 2017. The Commission found the staff’s review of FPL’s application adequate to make the necessary regulatory safety and environmental findings. The staff expects to issue the licenses in the next few days.

FPL applied for permission to build and operate two AP1000 reactors adjacent to the two existing Turkey Point reactors. FPL submitted the application on June 30, 2009. The NRC certified the 1,100-megawatt AP1000 design in 2011; more information on the certification process is available on the NRC website.

The NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards independently reviewed aspects of the application that concern safety, as well as the staff’s final safety evaluation report. The committee provided the results of its review to the Commission in September 2016. The NRC completed its environmental review and issued the final impact statement for the proposed Turkey Point reactors in October 2016.