Progress Energy, not long ago considered to be in the forefront of the nation's nuclear renaissance, continues delaying its timeline on nuclear energy development. Some projects are nearly a decade behind schedule, prompting nuclear critics say that despite hundreds of millions of dollars of up-front investment these power plants are not likely to get built.

The Raleigh-based electric utility said today it will delay building its planned Levy nuclear plant in Florida by another three years. The announcement sets back the twin reactor project to a 2024-26 time frame from the original planned dates of 2016 and 2018 for the reactors to come online and start generating electricity.

Progress expects to spend nearly $1 billion on the Florida nuclear project by the end of this year, passing on the investment to Florida customers in their monthly bills.

Delays have also stymied the company's nuclear ambitions in North Carolina. Progress had originally planned to add two reactors at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County by 2020-21. But now those proposed reactors are not in the company's 15-year plan, which means they would not be added until 2027 at the earliest, and possibly much later.



Emergency alerts at U.S. nuclear plants surged in 2011, reaching twice the levels seen in the past decade, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

The 62 events and alerts were caused by a spike in two areas: the Aug. 23 earthquake that rattled plants up and down the East Cost, and an unusually high number of events related to toxic and flammable gas.

Figuring among the 2011 statistics were all three nuclear plants owned by Progress Energy in the Carolinas, as well as N.C. State University's research reactor in Raleigh.

"2011 presented the greatest number of emergency classification notifications for the years we have analyzed starting in 2001," the NRC report said.

Residents and visitors within 10 miles of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant will be treated tomorrow to a full blast of the plant's emergency sirens.

Progress Energy will conduct an annual full-volume test of all 83 sirens between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. The annual test will sound very much like a real emergency, except that the sirens will wail only 3 minutes at a time.

All U.S. nuclear plants are required to have emergency warning systems within a 10-mile emergency planning zone. Shearon Harris conducts four tests a year for about 5 seconds and one test for 3 minutes.

The sirens used by Raleigh-based Progress Energy, which operates the plant, sound like air raid warnings. At 100 feet, they generate 127 decibels, comparable to a human scream or a marching band.

Progress Energy's Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County was one of a dozen nationwide to declare an unusual event after Tuesday's earthquake, but plant operators barely felt the tremor and found nothing amiss after a thorough inspection.

State and local officials have evacuation plans in place for a major emergency, but the 5.8 magnitude earthquake was not felt by many of the engineers and technicians inside the Shearon Harris plant, said Progress spokeswoman Julia Milstead.

Plant officials declared an "unusual event" at 2:06 p.m. on Monday, following the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's criteria for ranking emergencies. An unusual event is the lowest of four emergency levels, and even so, it met only two of the the NRC's three criteria.

The seismic tremors were not strong enough to trigger the plant's earthquake monitors, even though the temblor was felt by some at the plant's administrative offices and shook up people throughout the Triangle.

North Carolina, which relies on nuclear power for nearly half its electricity, is home to some of the nation's highest concentrations of radioactive waste taken from nuclear plants and kept in pools to prevent overheating.

This state's accumulated nuclear waste ranks fourth in the nation by volume, according to a report issued today by the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

The waste has been stored for decades at Progress Energy's Shearon Harris nuclear plant in southwestern Wake County, Brunswick plant near Wilmington and Duke Energy's McGuire plant near Charlotte.

Shearon Harris, less than 25 miles from Raleigh, stores overflow waste from the company's Brunswick plant and H.B. Robinson plant in South Carolina. The Harris plant ranks 22nd nationwide for total nuclear waste.

In a periodic ritual familiar to residents who live near a nuclear power plant, Progress Energy will sound the emergency warning sirens for the Shearon Harris plant at full blast tomorrow morning.

The Raleigh-based power company will conduct a full-volume test for about 5 seconds between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. The Shearon Harris nuclear plant has 83 warning sirens within 10 miles of the power plant.

The nuclear siren, which resembles an air-raid warning, is not likely to be mistaken for the afternoon bell at the local schoolhouse.

Progress is required to have a notification system in place in the event of an accident that results in a radioactive release. In past years, the sirens have failed the test, but since then the utility has replaced them at a cost of $2.5 million.

A violent storm disabled several dozen emergency warning sirens at a Duke Energy nuclear plant in South Carolina.

The loss of 40 sirens at the Catawba nuclear plant is reminiscent of the mishaps at the Shearon Harris plant several years ago before Progress Energy installed new sirens with backup battery power at a cost of $2.5 million. The batteries can operate the sirens for several days.

Raleigh-based Progress lost use of all 81 sirens on three separate occasions in 2007 and 2008 at the Harris plant in southwestern Wake County. Disabled sirens typically don't trigger federal penalties, but they can be an embarrassment to companies that pride themselves on public safety and public confidence.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires sirens or some other warning system within a 10-mile radius of all U.S. nuclear plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's routine annual performance review of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant is usually a sleepy affair with low turnout.

But this year's public meeting, taking place just five weeks after a giant tsunami crippled multiple reactors in Japan, turned into a mini-forum on public safety and the effectiveness of federal oversight.

The rise in public concern about nuclear safety is not a surprise. NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said that in the wake of the Japanese accident and subsequent radioactive release, the NRC's annual review meetings have drawn large audiences and even packed hearing rooms.

Federal nuclear officials will update the public of the safety performance of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant this week in a local meeting that may generate more public interest this time than in past years because of the recent nuclear crisis in Japan.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the Shearon Harris plant, less than 25 miles southwest of Raleigh, has received consistently high marks in a range of performance categories in 2010.

NRC officials update the public once a year on the performance of the nation's nuclear power plants. Shearon Harris is owned and operated by Raleigh-based Progress Energy.

The chances of multiple reactor failure are remote at Progress Energy's five nuclear reactors, the Raleigh-based electric company said today as much of the world is following that scenario unfolding in Japan in the wake of a monster tsumami.

Japanese authorities are pumping sea water to cool three nuclear reactors and prevent full-scale meltdowns at power plants that survived a powerful earthquake but were subsequently disabled by a giant ocean wave that swept over northern Japan's coastal areas, wiping out buildings and killing thousands of people.

Buildings housing two of the Japanese reactors have been blown away by explosions related to built-up pressure. The containment vessels shielding the reactors appear to be intact, but Japanese officials have confirmed that partial meltdowns are likely to have occurred.

American nuclear reactors are specifically designed to withstand terrorist attacks, earthquakes, hurricanes and a storm surge of 20 feet, said Jeffrey Lyash, Progress senior vice president for eneregy deliver, to CNBC this afternoon.

"These things are deliberately considered and addressed," Lyash said. "These plants get safer every year."