WHEREAS ... • Electricity consumption is known to be falling hand-in-hand with decreased economic activity throughout Florida and is sure to fall further in the face of population growth that has slowed to levels not seen since the 1940s, particularly in Southeast Florida; • The two new proposed nuclear reactors 6 & 7 at the Turkey Point power plant in Miami-Dade County would cost FPL customers an estimated $18 billion; • Already, beginning in January 2009, FPL has begun charging its customers in advance on their monthly electric bills for construction of the Turkey Point 6 & 7 nuclear plants; • In addition, FPL is now asking the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve a nearly $1 billion base-rate increase starting in January 2010, in part to cover funding of construction of the Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors; • These unnecessary Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors would be accompanied by new, unsightly and unsafe 230-KW high-voltage transmission lines that would run through neighborhoods and/or business districts along US 1, the prospect of which has generated broad protest from citizens and leaders of several communities of Southeast Miami-Dade County; • Repeated ongoing security and safety lapses have been reported in recent years at the Turkey Point plant, from security guards alseep on the job to avoidable repair mishaps that have led to reactor shutdowns to the recently reported allegations that plant management tried to restart reactors too quickly, threatening the safety and well-being of residents of surrounding communities; • In a drought-plagued state where citizens and businesses are increasingly restricted on their water usage, the upgrade of Turkey Point unit 5 and the addition of nuclear units 6 & 7 have created demand for an additional 84 million gallons of water a day, to be supplied through construction of a nine mile pipe carrying water from Miami-Dade's South District Waste Water Treatment Plant -- at a cost that will eventually also be passed on to FPL customers; • In the construction of Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors, FPL would irrevocably harm the natural environment and hamper ongoing environmental recovery efforts for Florida and Biscayne Bays by mining more than 10 million cubic yards of coastal wetlands that are part of the last remaining historic southeastern Everglades -- all in order to put the two new reactors atop landfill, some 20 feet above sea level; and, • Radioactive waste disposal has again become an issue in the construction of new nuclear reactors such as Turkey Point 6 & 7, with a three-judge panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently ruling against construction of two new reactors in neighboring Georgia, because the plant's owners have failed to demonstrate a safe, viable long-term storage plan for management of radioactive waste produced by the reactors ... THEREFORE, WE THE UNDERSIGNED CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS OF FLORIDA AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY EXPRESS OUR COMPLETE OPPOSITION TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR UNITS 6 & 7 AT THE TURKEY POINT POWER PLANT AND ON THE BASIS OF THE ABOVE SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC RATIONALE DO CALL ON ALL LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS AND AGENCIES TO DENY THE TURKEY POINT LICENSE HOLDER -- FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT -- THE ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE THESE ADDITIONAL NUCLEAR UNITS AT TURKEY POINT.

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