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Friday, May 16, 2014

Trojan in Twilight: Cooling Tower Implosion Preparation

IMG_1973 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

Though Trojan closed in 1993, the cooling tower was not scheduled to be demolished until the year 2018, long after the plant would have closed anyway, even if it had operated to the end of its design life.

IMG_1978 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

In late 2005, Portland General Electric surprised just about everyone with the announcement that the demolition of the power plant buildings would begin in the spring, and that Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) of Phoenix, Maryland had been contracted to implode the cooling tower in May of 2006.

IMG_1971 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

CDI is a well known demolition contractor, best known in the Pacific Northwest for the implosion of the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington on March 26, 2000.

FH000018 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

Beginning in March of 2006, CDI began marking the tower for the 2,934 holes that would have to be drilled to place 2,792 pounds of dynamite.

IMG_1975 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

The dynamite would be placed primarily in two horizontal bands 100 feet and 250 feet up on the tower, and in each of the tower's 88 legs.

FH000017 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

To contain debris that might fly from the tower during the implosion, the areas with dynamite were covered with chain-link, which was then covered with a black blasting cover.

Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

As work progressed, PGE set the exact date and time for the implosion as 7:00 AM on Sunday, May 21, 2006, one day after the 30th anniversary of the plant starting commercial operation.

FH000019 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

In early May, as time ticked down, the handrails on the ladder landings and around the top of the tower were covered with orange plastic in an attempt to keep endangered Peregrine Falcons (the fastest bird species) from nesting on the tower.

FH000016 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

IMG_1972 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

FH000015 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

FH000014 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

FH000013 Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower on May 13, 2006
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower partially prepared for implosion on May 13, 2006.

Continue to Cooling Tower Implosion

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