‘And the Tower Come Tumblin’ Down’

I saw a video this weekend that made me ill. Furious and sick to my stomach, all at the same time. 

Not because it was violent, or profane, disrespectful, or cruel.

But because, when I learned the back story about it, the waste of time, money, and energy it symbolized as it crashed to earth is so appalling, it should make every rational person queasy.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) imploded a massive, 540-foot-tall structure called the Hartsville Cooling Tower on Thursday.

The demolition of this behemoth was a symphony of precision and controlled explosions.

With the push of a button, the 540’ cooling tower in Hartsville, TN, safely came down this morning. The iconic structure was removed to make the Hartsville site safer and ready for tomorrow’s potential opportunities. ⚡🏗️ pic.twitter.com/srxcuFCTyZ

— Tennessee Valley Authority (@TVAnews) September 18, 2025

I thought they were decommissioning a nuclear plant.

Man, was I ever wrong.

It turns out they’d never built one. They got as far as raising that first tower, and the Three Mile Island (TMI) yips killed everything.

There were supposed to be three more towers, with the reactors inside eventually powering four million homes.

They gave it a time-out in 1979 and finally pulled the last plug in 1984. 

The single tower has been standing as an empty shell and lone sentinel of a lost nuclear age for almost fifty years.

The Hartsville nuclear project is a poignant memorial to the nuclear power industry’s “what if” moment. Ambitious plans to build four GE BWR-6 reactors, each with a capacity of 1,233 megawatts, in 1977 were ready to power 4 million homes, but were abruptly halted by the Three…

— st ⭐️ ar (@star877) September 22, 2025

…Ambitious plans to build four GE BWR-6 reactors, each with a capacity of 1,233 megawatts, in 1977 were ready to power 4 million homes, but were abruptly halted by the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979. This partial core meltdown, the worst commercial nuclear accident in the United States to date, released traces of radiation but shattered public confidence, caused soaring costs, and a regulatory stalemate that halted dozens of similar projects. Fast-forward to September 2025, and the Tennessee Valley Authority’s demolition of its 540-foot cooling tower wasn’t just a spectacle; it was the stark demolition of untapped potential. As global energy demand soars and the intermittency of renewable energy is exposed, this specter of Hartsville highlights a bitter irony: the same security concerns that halted nuclear expansion are now amplifying our reliance on fossil fuels, leaving behind a legacy of Megawatts of clean energy lost and a reminder that fear, not physics, often dictates progress ——-

The TVA figured they would never use any part of the remnants on the site and decided to tear everything down.

…“I think TVA has realized over the years that that cooling tower was not going to really serve any useful purpose,” Scott Brooks with TVA told News 2. “We were not going to complete any of those four reactors that were early under construction. That site is used for a number of other things, and it was really just in the way and so now removing that cooling tower makes way for the future and other possibilities at that site.”

One fellow remembered how the beginning of the construction of the plant helped save his family farm from going under.

…“My father actually built that thing,” Kelly Key told News 2.

Key said he remembers his father working at the site when he was in high school.

“What I really remember was we owned a farm, and we were in debt, and that job was so good and so opportunistic that it probably saved the farm,” he added.

Conilla Robinson’s parents also helped with the tower’s construction.

“Many people came into this area just to work… and then when it was decommissioned in ’84; mom and dad were on unemployment for a little while until they could find other work,” Robinson explained.

There had been such high hopes for nuclear and huge plans that would never come to fruition because of TMI.

…TVA officials said at one point they had about 17 nuclear reactors either planned or under construction across the region in the ’70s and early ’80s. Today, the TVA has seven total, including two in Tennessee: Watts Bar in Spring City and Sequoyah in Soddy-Daisy.

“We’re undertaking a new nuclear renaissance where we’re looking at small modular reactors, smaller units than the big ones that we’ve previously built,” Brooks explained.

According to Wiki, the reactors at Hartsville were coming along before the turn in national sentiment against nuclear. But that, coupled with the projected electricity demand they were being built to address never appearing, spelled doom for the project as costs spiraled.

Construction began in April 1977 after the issuance of the construction permits.^[5] Existing housing was demolished to make way for the new reactors.^[1] The spray ponds were partially dug out, the water intake pumping station were partially constructed, and the foundations of the condensate circulating water pumping stations had been built prior to cancellation. The switchyards on both plants were either partially or fully completed before cancellation.^[6][7]

^{Unit A1}

Unit A1 was the most complete before cancellation at 44%^[8] completion. The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was installed, and parts of the Mark III containment structure were in place. The turbine hall floor had just begun construction, leaving large holes to the condenser hall from where the turbines and generator would have been. The cooling tower’s main concrete structure was completed, however it is missing the inner components.

Unit A2

Unit A2 was 34% complete.^[8] The reactor pressure vessel had been installed but was missing many parts of the containment structure. The turbine hall floor is in similar condition to the one in unit A1. The cooling tower’s steel frame base was completed, but the main structure had not begun construction.

Unit B1

Unit B1 was 17% complete.^[8] The support structure for the RPV had just began construction. The condenser hall was dug out completely. The cooling tower did not begin construction.

Unit B2

Unit B2 was at 7% completion.^[8] The foundations for the containment building had just begun, but the walls were not added yet. The auxiliary building had completed the walls on the lowest floor but was either demolished or covered up with soil after the cancellation. The condenser hall was dug out completely. Cooling tower construction had not begun.

TVA shut everything down and walked away in 1984.

Now? If the Georgia Power Vogtle Three plant is any indication, unless something happens to dramatically speed up the government’s approval process of the new generation reactors, fuggedaboudit.

Vogtle had its site plan approved in 2006 and finally came online when?

In July of 2023.

Bankrupting Southern Company in the interim, thanks to jumping through hoops, rewrites, regulation changes, and delays.

Ironically, the beast that started the slide into the next decades of nuclear-free energy in the U.S. is being resurrected from the dead.

US nuclear growth froze after Three Mile Island, an event which caused zero deaths or injuries and no adverse health effects to the population (according to 13 independent studies).

The real tragedy of TMI is the media overreaction which killed an industry.

Finally fixing this! pic.twitter.com/iZBLMi9tio

— Isaiah Taylor – making nuclear reactors (@isaiah_p_taylor) January 21, 2025

Three Mile Island lives to see another day to serve its new masters at Microsoft.

Nuclear for we, not for thee, peasants.

It’s the only scalable option for their AI. So while you get wind turbines and solar to salve their filthy guilty green cult consciences, their all-important tech gets what should be keeping your lights on and house warm.

That’s how this works, you see?

In happy news, they did manage to save a wee kitty who was too close to the tower when it came down. Poor baby got scorched, but it’s in good, loving hands.

And maybe now will find a real home with lots of cuddles and love once it heals up.

A six-week-old kitten is struggling to recover after suffering severe burns believed to be related to the recent implosion of the Hartsville cooling tower, according to the Smith County Humane Society.

The kitten, now named “Ashton,” was found with burns all over his one-pound body, including to his eyes and face. He was immediately taken to an emergency veterinarian, where he began receiving treatment, including medications and around-the-clock care.

“Ashton will be recovering with meds and lots of love and attention,” said the humane society in a Facebook post. “Don’t forget he’s getting yummy canned kitten foods to also help his emaciated state and to help his skin heal!”

Ashton was found near the site of the demolished cooling tower in Trousdale County, which the Tennessee Valley Authority imploded on Thursday. While the exact cause of his injuries remains unconfirmed, rescuers believe the burns may be connected to the implosion.

You go, little man. Heal up quick!

And stay inside from now on.

Hartsville cooling tower demolition.
Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/r31JAgEDbH

— JLR© (@JLRINVESTIGATES) September 18, 2025

Hopefully, someday, there will be more of these going up than tumblin’ down.

 

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