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All the United States Washington Elma Satsop Nuclear Power Plant

Satsop Nuclear Power Plant

From overly ambitious (and eventually abandoned) atomic dream to bustling office park.

Elma, Washington

Added By
Sarah Martin
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Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant  
Looking down into the east cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the east cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
Standing under the east cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
View from the top of the east cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
The dismantled and water filled nuclear reactor pit   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
Ascending the East coolong tower   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
From the rim of the East coolong tower   CatAshbee / Atlas Obscura User
inside the unfinished tower   supawanich / Atlas Obscura User
reservoir under cooling tower   supawanich / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the stainless steel reactor chamber. These cylinders would’ve held the control rods.   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
looking up from the base   supawanich / Atlas Obscura User
View looking up at the east cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
East cooling tower   Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
  theoriginalbyoch / Atlas Obscura User
  Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Billed as the ultimate reuse story, the Satsop Business Park has successfully transformed from an almost-finished nuclear power plant to an industrial center, technology campus, and workforce training center.

In the 1970s, Satsop was part of one of the most ambitious nuclear power plant construction projects in the U.S., at least until the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), or as some say “Whoops,” defaulted on 2.25 billion dollars in bonds. The project was plagued with cost overruns, and construction stopped in early 1982 leaving the plant unfinished but more than half complete, with monstrous cooling towers and mostly-complete reactor containment domes. The much-publicized Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979 didn’t help public relations efforts either. As the decade drew to a close, the project was mired in lawsuits that would last for years. To shed its bad image, WPPSS changed its name to Energy Northwest in 1998.

The plant, which had been built to withstand a massive earthquake, was left standing. Seeing the potential of the unfinished site, area leaders formed the Grays Harbor Public Development Authority to transition the plant into a business park. In 2013, it handed over ownership to the Port of Grays Harbor, which now manages the community-owned facility. Reuse has brought an eclectic mix of business and activity to the campus, ranging from a world-class acoustical lab to film shoots to an impressive tunnel training site used by the City of Seattle Fire Department.

Best of all, one can experience the nuclear setting without the worry of previous safety violations!

Related Tags

Abandoned Nuclear Cooling Towers

Know Before You Go

Latitude / Longitude: 46.96166 -123.46869

Community Contributors

Added By

S J Martin

Edited By

ned, theoriginalbyoch, supawanich, Collector of Experiences...

  • ned
  • theoriginalbyoch
  • supawanich
  • Collector of Experiences
  • Jason Rost
  • CatAshbee
  • autumnraemoore

Published

September 16, 2015

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Sources
  • http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5482
  • http://clui.org/ludb/site/satsop-nuclear-plants
  • http://www.context.org/iclib/ic07/myers/
  • http://www.seattlechannel.org/explore-videos?videoid=x22582
  • http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article25273699.html
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/16488#sthash.mJQJnMvm.dpuf
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant
Elma, Washington, 98541
United States
46.96245, -123.467827
Visit Website

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Washington

Washington

United States

Places 323
Stories 38

Nearby Places

Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

Aberdeen, Washington

miles away

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Olympia, Washington

miles away

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Washington

Washington

United States

Places 323
Stories 38

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