Trojan Park HistoryHighlights

 Native Americans

European Settlers

Trojan Plant

Native Americans

• Chinook Nation (~12300BC-1850)– Local Tribe: CATHLAMET

• Largest original settlement was in Cathlamet, WA (34 miles north) with 500-1000 inhabitants

• Range: Mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington, to the present location.

Native Americans• Chinook Village

Native Americans• Plank house

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, Ridgefield, WA

Native Americans• Chinook Canoes

Shovelnose

Nootka

Native Americans• Tools and Clothing

Fishing with a seine

Native Americans• Customs: Head Flattening

Clark Journal Diagram Chinook Woman

Native Americans• Language: Chinook Jargon -“Chinuk Wawa”

– Chinook WaWa explained

• Some words…– A a a h! Exclamation confirming a statement.– A a a a e! Wonder, sympathy, etc.– Ats Sister.– Boston White man.– Bebe Baby.– Canim Boat.– Chuck Water.– Halo    No. – House    House. – Mama    Mother – Wawa    Talk

European Settlers• Early Chinook-European Interaction (1792)

• Chinook People in decline (1770-1850)

You are here

European Settlers• Lewis and Clarke: "Corps of Discovery Expedition“

(1804-1806)

European Settlers

• City of Rainer, OR

Electrical Power

• What is electricity used for?– Industrial manufacturing– Household uses

Electrical Power

• How is our electrical power generated? – Portland General Electric power comes from:

Thermal1.Natural Gas 28%2.Coal 25%

3.Hydro22%

4.Wind 11%

5.Purchases 9%

Electrical Power• What about nuclear power generation?

– In the 1960’s, it was said that that nuclear generated electricity would be “too cheap to meter!”

So Portland General Electric built the

Trojan Nuclear Power Plant 

Material Energy Type Energy (KJ)/Kilo

Uses

Anti-Matter Matter/Antimatter 180 Billion Theoretical

Uranium-235 Nuclear 80 Million Electrical power plants

Hydrogen Chemical 123 Experimental

Gasoline Chemical 47 Auto engines

Coal Chemical 24 Electrical power plants

Carbs/Sugar Chemical 17 Human nutrition

Gunpowder Chemical 3 Explosives

Nuclear Power Generation

• How is nuclear power generated?– Radioactive Uranium 235 atoms, closely packed, generates heat

– Reactor controls the temperature of the radioactive core

– Heats water under pressure (pressurized water reactor)

– Transfers heat to a steam generator; steam spins the turbine-generator

– Water is cooled to reuse in the steam generator

– No fire = no air pollution!

Nuclear Power Generation

• Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor

Trojan Power Plant• PGE built the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant

– Largest ever “Pressurized Water Reactor“ – Cost $430 million to build– Licensed to operate for 35 years, to 2011– Only operated from1976 until 1992, just 16 years.

Trojan Power Plant• Trojan produced 1,130 Megawatts of power

– That is a LOT of power!– Three (3) times as much as the Boardman Oregon coal plant– Without any air pollution!

Boardman coal power plant produces ⅔ of the SOx emissions & ⅓ of the NOx emissions in the state [from stationary sources]

Trojan Power Plant• Trojan produced 1,130 Megawatts of power

– That is a LOT of power!– Almost as much as the Bonneville Dam [1189 Megawatts]

• But we can’t locate more dams on the Columbia River• And dams are not good for the fish stocks

Trojan Power Plant• Trojan produced 1,130 Megawatts of power

– That is a LOT of power!– This is as much as the largest wind farm in the United States– 342 Wind Turbines producing 1020 Megawatts in California

Trojan Power Plant

Trojan suffered three problems that lead to its early shutdown, demolition, and removal

1. Premature failure of the steam generator tubes Supposed to last the life of the plant; began cracking after

only 4 years.

2. Design and construction flaws Would it withstand an earthquake?

3. Political opposition People repeatedly brought “Close Trojan” ballot measures to

vote; They were defeated but PGE spent heavily to advertise their side of the issue

Trojan Closure• Trojan became too costly to maintain, repair, and defend to the

public so it was closed in 1992. – In 2001, the massive reactor was encased in concrete, wrapped in

plastic, & barged upriver to Hanford, a nuclear storage facility

– Largest reactor to be moved in one piece.

– It was buried in a 45 foot deep hole, buried under 6” of gravel.

The spent fuel is stored here in 34 dry steel casks. They were supposed to be shipped to Yucca Mtn. Nevada until the plans for nuclear waste storage there were cancelled. Dry casks are built as “temporary storage” so we have a problem than needs solving!

Trojan Closure• The iconic 499 foot tall cooling tower was demolished via dynamite implosion at 7:00am on May 21, 2006

– This implosion marked another first for Trojan; the first cooling tower implosion at a nuclear power site

– Closing the site cost $230 million!

Trojan Closure• The iconic 499 foot tall cooling tower was demolished via

dynamite implosion at 7:00am on May 21, 2006– This implosion marked another first for Trojan; the first cooling tower implosion at a

nuclear power site

Trojan Plant De-commissioning

The Final Day