[skeptoid]

It was the largest cooling tower in the nation.
Seems like a waste. What were the 'safety reasons' that closed it in '93?

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/OR3142/

[Publius6961]

The new Dark Ages at work...

How will they feel when they are freezing in the dark?
And the flags of islam are flying outside the city walls?

[BwanaNdege]

It probably was a waste. I remember reading about a plan to spray water through nozzles located at the top inside a very tall tower. The resulting evaporation would cool the air, causing a strong downdraft which would drive large turbines at the base. These turbines would be connected to electrical generators.

I believe that the main impediment to implementing the project was the cost of building the tower. In this case the "powers that be" probably decided that the monstrous symbol of hated nuclear power must be destroyed to regain peace with Mother Gaia. (sarcasm off)

[jimtorr]

As I recall, the true "safety reasons" were the general anti-nuke hysteria. There were some structural issues, but nothing that couldn't be put right easily enough. The financial issues were only the usual issues about construction and maintenance expenses.

The only thing that really killed this plant was anti-nuke eco-hysteria. After the plant was shut down, the utilities involved made major investments in wind farms in Idaho, which have been a total disastor.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Portland General Electric ordered the implosion at Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, about 40 miles north of Portland, as part of its decommissioning.  It was Oregon's first and only nuclear power plant.

Uh.  "40 miles north of Portland" is 39 miles inside Washington State, making it a Washington Nuclear Plant that Oregon was using.

I'll miss that tower.  It was freaking huge.

[BruceysMom]

This reactor had a long history of problems. It was screwed up from the beginning. I have no problem with nuclear power but this one was scary.

[XR7]

[XR7]

Cool videos of the implosion here: http://www.kgw.com/video/trojanimplosion.html

Enjoy!

[nightdriver]

"Seems like a waste. What were the 'safety reasons' that closed it in '93?"

There were leaks in the steam generators of radioactive water. It would have cost many hundreds of millions of dollars to repair. The consortium of utilities owning Trojan just couldn't justify it.

The design of the steam generators used stainless tubing for the primary loop, not the best material for resisting corrosion in this particular application.

The "spent" fuel is still on-site, however. It will have to be dealt with sooner or later.