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St. Lucie Nuclear Plant

Quick Facts

  • Located on Hutchinson Island about eight miles southeast of Ft. Pierce
  • Two nuclear power units:
    • Unit 1 began operation in 1976
    • Unit 2 following in 1983
  • Generates about 2,000 megawatts
    (1 megawatt = 1 million watts) of electricity -- enough power to supply the annual needs of more than 1 million homes
  • Reactor manufacturer - Combustion Engineering
  • Turbine Generator Manufacturer - Westinghouse
  • A safe, reliable and low-cost producer of electricity

 

St. Lucie nuclear plant 

Plant Milestones

Activity

Unit 1

Unit 2

Construction permit

July 1970

May 1977

Full-power operating license

March 1976

April 1983

Commercial operations

June 1976

August 1983

Renewed operating licenses received from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

October 2003

October 2003

Environmental Stewardship

Three-fourths of the St. Lucie Plant property remains in its natural state of mangroves, beaches and swamps.

There are about 180 species of birds and animals that inhabit the St. Lucie Plant property in our wildlife preserve. Of these, 36 are endangered or threatened.

Sea turtles return annually to nest on isolated plant beaches. We are committed to:

  • Protecting sea turtles and assisting research institutions in data collection
  • Providing nesting surveys since 1971 on 21 miles of adjacent beach property
  • Conducting turtle walks for the public during the summer to observe nesting sea turtles

Turtle walks have been held since 1989 to increase awareness of sea turtle conservation issues. Around 500 people attend these events annually.