`Whoops' Powers Up - Just 25 Years Late
The old N-tower
A quarter century after our tax dollars disappeared in the nuclear power-generating debacle we know as "Whoops," there will be light at Satsop.
A new 650-megawatt plant is set to begin operation at the old WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System) site near Elma. Grays Harbor Energy, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Invenergy, will generate juice from a gas-powered plant in the shadow of the two mothballed nuclear power plants, terminated in the wake of cost overruns and a $2.25 billion bond default, reports the Aberdeen Daily World today.
One catch (other than it's powered by fossil fuels): Gas-run generation is noisy.
"It’s like psychological warfare," says Patti Farr, whose house is the closest to the new 650-megawatt power plant at the Satsop Development Park.Plant managers say the racket was part of the start-up phase and promise to be a good neighbor, abiding with all state noise-level laws.
Farr remains skeptical. "You can hear a constant hum when you could never hear anything but birds before."
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