KALAMA -- At 7 a.m. Sunday morning, the Trojan cooling tower -- a vestige of Oregon's controversial foray into nuclear power -- crumpled as planned in a billowing, hazy cloud of dust.(more...)
How will you watch the implosion? On TV, from your couch? On Interstate 5, while dodging cops? In your mind's eye, reading our descriptions over Monday's coffee? Comment »
What would you do with a 499-foot cooling tower? Evil mastermind's secret lair? Oktoberfest tankard? Holder of four colossal number-two pencils? You decide. Comment »
What questions do you have? We can't promise to have all the answers, but we're here to help. Comment »
Will you miss the tower? Or are you glad to see it go? Comment »
Grab bag Talk about anything else you'd like. Cooling-tower related, please. Comment »
Why demolish it?
The nuclear power plant was switched off in 1993 after problems with the plant's steam tubes, and the site's in the process of decommissioning, so the tower's got to go down sometime. Sooner is better than later, because Portland General Electric, the tower's owner, spends money each year to ensure it stays in shape. It's also safer and cheaper to demolish a tower while it's still structurally sound, according to Doug Loizeaux of Controlled Demolition Inc., which is handling Sunday's demolition.
What did the cooling tower do?
It never held radioactive material. It acted like a giant radiator, bringing down the temperature of cooling water used in the plant. The water chilled in the tower did not come into contact with radioactive materials in the plant's nuclear core. The massive column of steam that drifted out of the tower was caused by hot water vapor leaving the plant.
Was radiation released?
No. The only radioactive material remaining at Trojan is the spent fuel rods that once were in the plant's reactor. Those rods are locked inside a building in huge concrete flasks a quarter-mile from the tower. The flasks are designed to withstand a train collision. So even if some bit of the tower had somehow to hit one, nothing would have happened.
Who carried the implosion on TV?
All the Portland networks -- ABC-2, CBS-6, NBC-8, FOX-12 -- broadcast the demolition live.
Complete TDN coverage Trojan tower's coming down (Dec. 30)
One of the region's most recognizable landmarks will be reduced to a pile of rubble in May, when Portland General Electric
implodes the Trojan Nuclear Plant's 499-foot-tall cooling tower...
States plan for Trojan-implosion chaos (Jan. 5)
Oregon and Washington officials are already making plans to deal with the dust and traffic problems expected to accompany the
May demolition of the cooling tower of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant...
Columbia County amends law to allow highway delays
during Trojan implosion (Jan. 26)
ST. HELENS, Ore. -- Portland General Electric will need to get a road-use permit from Columbia County and reimburse the cost
of county personnel required to work during the implosion of the Trojan cooling tower in May...
Trojan implosion to take place May 21 (Feb. 24)
RAINIER -- The demolition of the Trojan cooling tower is set for 7 a.m., on Sunday, May 21, a PGE official said
Thursday...
Experts say locals have nothing to fear from Trojan
implosion (Feb. 27)
For eight seconds on Sunday, May 21, the scene around the old Trojan nuclear power plant will feel distinctly apocalyptic.
That's the day the plant's 499-foot concrete cooling tower is expected to collapse on itself like a colossal soda can --
apparently becoming the first of its kind to be demolished in North America...
What do you do with 30,000 cubic yards of cooling-tower
concrete? (Feb. 27)
Take a football field and stack concrete 14 feet high on every inch of turf. That's 30,000 cubic yards of concrete -- and
what will be left of the 499-foot Trojan cooling tower once it's reduced to rubble May 21...
2,000 pounds of explosives will take down Trojan
tower (March 9)
RAINIER -- Like an incredibly high-tech version of notching a tree, demolition experts plan to weaken one side of the Trojan
cooling tower to ensure it collapses in place...
Crews start drilling at Trojan (April 12)
Demolition crews have started drilling the Trojan tower for May's implosion -- work that will continue for the next few weeks...
Part of Interstate 5 to close during Trojan
implosion (May 4)
A six-mile stretch of Interstate 5 will be shut down from Kelso to Kalama for about 15 minutes during and after the Trojan
cooling tower implosion on May 21, the state Department of Transportation announced Wednesday...
Implosion will shut down traffic May 21 (May 8)
RAINIER -- Early in the morning on May 21, traffic will be stopped on land, on the river and in the air as strategically
placed explosions crumble the 499-foot Trojan Nuclear Plant cooling tower in on itself...
Meet Trojan's demolition crew (May 14)
You can't blame the reality TV shows for courting the Loizeaux family. A clan of men and women who blow up buildings for a living, travel the world and have a dog named Boomer running around their offices is a TV producer's dream...
'Simpsons' keeps Trojan tower legacy alive ... or does it? (May 14)
Say it ain't so, Homer! As the Lower Columbia region readies for the May 21 implosion of the Trojan Nuclear Plant's cooling tower, a long held-belief about its brush with television fame may crumble along with it...
Suddenly homes with Trojan views are hot tickets (May 15)
KALAMA -- If anyone ever needed an excuse to party, the morning of May 21 will furnish a good excuse. Paul and Jean Akre, whose Kalama home offers a birds-eye view of the Trojan Nuclear Plant's cooling tower, are taking the bait...
Ex-Trojan workers sad to see tower go - (May 18)
Portland General Electric is busing in hundreds of current and former employees to the Port of Kalama early Sunday morning to see the implosion of the Trojan cooling tower, and many are expecting the experience to be bittersweet...
Day of destruction for Trojan cooling tower nears (May 20)
The chance to watch a nuclear power plant cooling tower packed full of dynamite collapse like a giant pop can happens perhaps once in a lifetime, if you're lucky. Sunday morning, thousands of local residents and tourists who want to witness the historic Trojan implosion in person will be competing for a good view...
Trojan falls
For the first time in U.S. history, the cooling tower of a nuclear power plant collapsed in a colossal cloud of dust near Kalama at 7 a.m. Sunday morning...
Letters about Trojan Turn to efficient energy source (Dec. 21)
As we rely on FDR-era facilities for our power, our utility is facing many of the same challenges our aluminum plant faced.
Either you become efficient or you will cease to exist in a fashion that will cost us all dearly...
Save the Trojan tower (Jan. 17)
Yes, save the Trojan tower as a landmark, a tourist attraction, a keepsake maybe, because they're not building any more of
them...
Keep the Trojan tower (Jan. 21)
Do we have our heads in the sand or did I miss out why the Trojan site should not be considered as an ideal location for the
United States stepping to the plate to reduce fossil fuel use?...
Get involved (Feb. 22)
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Rainier City Hall, the planning commission is holding a public hearing regarding Teevin Bros. and
Mike Avent's request to rezone 13 acres of riverfront property in Rainier from light industrial to heavy
industrial...
Implosion will affect us all (April 23)
I am nothing less than appalled at the total irresponsibility of such a dangerous act as the Trojan implosion with no
apparent concern for the outcome, which will affect us all...
Enjoy the show, big shots (May 19)
Can PGE stop the Trojan gawkers? Looks that way. I agree with Rob C. The rich people get awesome up-front seats, free taxpayer-paid transportation, and the majority of people who pay a larger percent of their income in taxes so the big shots can have free shows, get to hoof it...
Tower will be missed (May 19)
As the Trojan implosion looms in front of us, I can't help but think that there could have been a way to develop the tower and its surroundings for economic enhancement to this area...
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