World Bulletin / News Desk

A gray dinosaur statue outside south Florida's largest power plant is meant to symbolize two decommissioned fossil fuel reactors, but it also could be seen to represent a nuclear industry crumpling under mounting costs.

Florida Power and Light had argued that such expansion was needed to maintain diverse energy sources and to supply Florida's booming population for years to come, while touting nuclear as a clean form of energy.

But now, just three reactors are in operation – one natural gas and two nuclear reactors, built in the 1970s.

And plans to build two more nuclear reactors -- first announced in 2009 -- are essentially on hold for at least four years, according to filings with the state's Public Service Commission.

"Right now our only focus is on getting all the approvals we need," company spokesman Peter Robbins told AFP.

"We are not buying construction materials."