By Regan McCarthy
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-977848.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Florida's public service commission is sorting through plans presented by Progress Energy Florida to make a second round of repairs to the Crystal River nuclear plant. The commission is tasked with deciding whether the company's repair estimates and plans are reasonable and how much of the cost of the one billion dollar project will be passed on to consumers. Regan McCarthy has more.
Progress Energy is moving forward with plans to replace a cracked concrete containment wall. Officials estimate the fix will cost between 900-million and 1.3-billion dollars. Progress Energy spokeswoman Suzanne Grant says the company's insurance will cover some of that cost.
"Just as if, you know, you have an accident and a branch falls and it damages your roof. You may have to pay a deductable and then your insurance company will pay for most of those repairs. So it's a similar process that we're going through. We have not completed that process with our insurance company so its unknown at this time how much of our repairs that they will pay for."
It is also unknown how much and whether costs will be passed on to the company's customers. The plant is expected to be up and running by 2014.