Troubled Nuclear Plant in Oregon Will Close

The troubled Trojan Nuclear Plant in Oregon--subject of three failed efforts by activists to shut it down--on Monday was ordered permanently closed by the chief owner’s board of directors.

The vote by directors of Portland General Electric, based in Portland, appears to put an end to a long-running battle between activists, who contended that the plant was dangerous, and the utility, which argued that Trojan was safe and that its electrical power was needed to satisfy demand.

The controversy was highlighted in a story in the Los Angeles Times just before the November election, when voters defeated two measures aimed at closing the plant immediately. PGE by then had said it would close the plant by 1996 because needed repairs would make the plant uneconomical beyond that time.