Portland General Electric to demolish Trojan Nuclear Plant

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Mar 10, 2006 by DJC Staff

Portland General Electric is almost ready to destroy the 499- foot cooling tower at Trojan Nuclear Plant. The hourglass-shaped structure, scheduled for implosion on May 21, is one of the most widely recognized icons of Oregon's only nuclear power plant.

Controlled Demolition Inc., the Maryland-based contractor handling the implosion, said it will take 8 seconds to bring down the 41,000 tons of cement and steel. The company will place roughly 2,000 tons of explosives at the base of the structure, which is expected to tilt slightly sideways then collapse upon itself.

It's been done before, but never this big, said Mark Loizeaux, president of CDI, which also managed the destruction of the Kingdome in Seattle.