Whoops!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Or should I say WPPSS which stands for the Washington Public Power Supply System, one of the most expensive undertakings and failures in public power history. This is or was the Satsop Nuclear Plant located in Elma Washington which is 30 miles west of Olympia. We pass this every time we go to the ocean. No matter how many times you travel this road it's still something to see those two huge cooling towers with their blinking lights atop. For the short story on the rise and fall of this plant and WPPSS click here. For a more detailed description of the plant and what it's being used for today click here.

11 comments

  1. Rob Says:

    "defaulted on $2.25 billion in municipal bonds" woops is right. Maybe the towers could be cut in half and rolled onto their sides. Would make for a huge half-pipe for the skateboarders.

  2. Hilda Says:

    With an acronym like that, I think they set themselves up for failure! Such a sad waste and those two cooling towers would scare me every time I see them.

    A lovely shot though, especially on a day as beautiful as this.

  3. It is always surprising to see these huge towers when driving down that way. Woops is right. MB

  4. I was going to say what a beautiful sky and lovely green... ;-)

  5. Lowell Says:

    What a fascinating post! I never knew any of this (one great thing about CDP is all the stuff you learn!)...

    Whoops is a perfect name.

    I wonder how much taxpayer money actually went into this boondoggle and how much, if any, was recovered?

    And what are the leaders of this project doing now?

  6. Lois Says:

    I agree with Jacob, I'm always learning interesting new stuff while visiting my favorite blogs. This is a shame, but the picture is great. I really like those big fluffy clouds hanging over the towers. I finally got around to posting my answers by the way--sorry it took so long!

  7. Chuck Pefley Says:

    Those towers are both impressive and sinister at the same time.

  8. brian stout Says:

    i agree with jacob - i'd never heard of this before, but i feel like i learned something today!!!

  9. Thanks all, and you're not the only ones that learn a lot here. Every day I click on one of your blogs and read something of which I had no prior knowledge. It's one of the things, I think which keeps me coming back. That eagerness to see what goes on in other parts of our country and other parts of the world. Hopefully we all keep getting smarter as long as we're on this big ball.

  10. tapirgal Says:

    I pass a couple of similar towers en route to Portland, and they always make me nervous.

  11. AB Says:

    Nice cloudscape to go with your woopy towers

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