Safety Concerns Prompt Closure Of Trojan Plant

PORTLAND - The long, bitter battle over nuclear power in Oregon is over.

After spending millions of dollars to defeat four ballot initiatives that would have closed the Trojan nuclear plant near Rainier, Ore., Portland General Electric Co. has abandoned the fight.

The utility announced yesterday it had decided not to restart the plant, which has been idle since Nov. 9, because of problems with the steam generator system.

Oregon's only commercial nuclear plant, completed in May 1976 along the Columbia River 40 miles northwest of Portland, was intended to operate for 40 years. It lasted 16 years, six months.

In August, PGE announced that the 1.1 million kilowatt plant, which can generate enough electricity for 600,000 to 700,000 residential customers, would close permanently in 1996 because of microscopic cracks in the steam generator tubes.

Ken Harrison, PGE's chief operating officer, said the cost of safely operating the plant outweighed the benefits of keeping it open.

Uncertainty about future federal requirements fueled the shutdown decision, he added.

The utility cited the recent disclosure of disagreement among government scientists over Trojan's safety. There have been disputes within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the extent of safety measures needed to restart the plant. The dispute centered on the number of steam tubes that could be plugged without hindering the plant's safety.

The plant was shut down two months ago after a cracked tube led to the release of traces of radioactive gas into the atmosphere.

Harrison estimated $40 million to $60 million will be saved by closing Trojan early. The cost of decommissioning the plant is estimated at $400 million to $500 million, he said.

Lloyd Marbet, who led the fight to close Trojan from the day the plant opened, said PGE finally was admitting that the nuclear option is wrong.

"It's like the emperor has no clothes," he said. "They realize they're standing naked in front of the public right now. There's no technology that's going to make this work."

But Harrison said the decision need not be seen as a defeat for nuclear power.

"We're not making a statement about nuclear power," he said. "I have really mixed feelings, quite frankly, about the philosophical position. . . . I think somewhere down the road nuclear could well play a part again."

PGE's management decided over the past week that the permanent closure of Trojan was the best option. The utility's board of directors went along unanimously yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon, the plant's 1,300 employees were told of the decision. About 700 of them will lose their jobs by the end of the year.

"We feel that was probably the hardest part of this decision," PGE spokesman Steve Sautter said. "That is the gut-wrenching decision that was made."

The plant, visible from Interstate 5 on the Washington side of the Columbia River, is on the outskirts of Rainier, a town of about 1,700.

"It's kind of disheartening," said Mayor Joseph Taylor, who works at the plant as an operator. "You work hard to make this community work, and the major employer decides to close down the plant."

Improved water supplies behind hydroelectric dams in the Northwest helped lead to the decision to close the plant, Sautter said.

PGE plans to sue Westinghouse Electric Co., the plant's manufacturer, to recover at least some of the cost of replacing the electricity and the shutdown, Harrison said.

Voters in November rejected two ballot measures that would have closed the plant Sunday. Other ballot measures were turned down in 1986 and 1990.

The only other electricity-generating nuclear plant in the Pacific Northwest is the No. 2 reactor at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, operated by the Washington Public Power Supply System. That reactor has been shut down numerous times because of mechanical difficulties and the failure of control-room operators to meet federal requirements.