A plan to cool new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point with Biscayne Bay water has drawn the attention of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.</p><p>"We have a keen interest in making sure the freshwater-saltwater interface does not move much further to the east," FKAA Engineering Director Tom Walker said Friday.</p><p>Most of the fresh water pumped to the Florida Keys is taken from the Biscayne Aquifer at the FKAA well field in Florida City, about six miles from Florida Power and Light's Turkey Point plant.</p><p>The FPL proposal says most of the water used to cool two new reactors -- about 90,000 gallons daily -- would come from Miami-Dade's treated wastewater.</p><p>But as a backup source for cooling water, FPL wants to sink a 40-foot well beneath the bottom of Biscayne Bay.</p><p>"There are times when that [wastewater] may not be available to them," Walker said. The "radial well" would be a large shaft with a network of horizontal wells extending beneath the bay bottom. "Like spokes on a wheel," Walker said.</p><p>"The real issue for us is whether this could affect saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer rather than causing a drawdown of the aquifer itself," said FKAA Executive Director Kirk Zuelch.</p><p>Modifications to a Miami-Dade permit needed to move forward on the Turkey Point expansion were scheduled to be heard Thursday in Miami, but the Miami-Dade County Commission could not assemble enough members to conduct the session. The issue likely will be moved to a Jan. 10 hearing.</p><p>FPL also seeks to increase the number of days it would be allowed to draw from the radial well, said Dawn Shirreffs, Everglades restoration specialist for the National Parks Conservation Association.</p><p>"They asking for the permit to allow them to use the radial well up to 50 percent of the time," Shirreffs said. "That's a significant increase and the possible ramifications are completely unknown."</p><p>"We are concerned the draw could have salinity impacts on the Biscayne Aquifer and Biscayne National Park," she said.</p><p>The power utility seeks to build a wastewater treatment plant that would require about 40 acres of coastal wetland to be destroyed, she noted.</p><p>The Turkey Point nuclear plant lies within eyesight from the top of the Card Sound Bridge.</p><p>The new reactors, if they receive approval, would not become active for another decade at the earliest. Estimated costs of the project range from $13 billion to $20 billion.