Duke Energy Corp. has told Florida regulators that it's delaying until next summer a decision on whether to repair a crippled Crystal River reactor.

John Burnett, a lawyer representing Progress Energy Florida, told the Florida Public Service Commission yesterday that the companies are analyzing whether to do repairs that could cost as much as $3.5 billion.

The facility has been idle for about three years, since workers found cracks in a concrete building that surrounds and shields the reactor (Greenwire, Aug. 14).

Duke, which recently merged with Progress Energy Inc., is continuing to evaluate Zapata Inc.'s estimate that it could cost $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion to fix the plant. Zapata released a report last month that found the Crystal River plant has serious structural problems that make repairing the plant even riskier and could double the cost (Greenwire, Oct. 4).

The Crystal River plant has drawn the ire of consumer advocates who say ratepayers would be stuck paying millions for the plant.

The facility was also at the center of the high-drama managerial shift that followed the $32 billion mega-merger between Progress and Duke.

Burnett acknowledged the company would refund customers millions of dollars if it decided to fix the Crystal River plant but didn't begin work by Dec. 31.

Duke is also waiting to see how much insurance it can collect to repair the plant from Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd.

Jon Moyle, an attorney with the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, told regulators NEIL has been a "source of some frustration" and will need to be discussed in the near future.