Abstract
This paper explored the extent to which the NRC incorporated SLR projections into its 2019 decision to issue a subsequent license renewal for Units 3 and 4 of FPL’s TP Nuclear Generating Station. The investigation revealed that the NRC limited the credibility of its assessment of SLR data in its decision by narrowing the scope too much. Temporally, in focusing on a 2050s timeframe, the NRC all but dismissed how SLR will affect the lengthy decommissioning process reactors must undergo. Geographically, in focusing on the reactors, themselves, the NRC all but dismissed how SLR will affect the remainder of the TP site. Through it all and to its detriment, the NRC repeatedly relied on outdated, generic, or otherwise cherrypicked documents to justify the adequacy of its evaluation of SLR data. The implications of these findings were clear: the NEPA process through which the NRC reviewed SLR data when deciding whether or not to relicense the nuclear units at TP left much to be desired. As an important first step to remedy the gap in such analyses, this paper recommended the CEQ modify its regulations to re-implement a worst-case analysis requirement.