Oregon Rejects Anti-Nuke Bid

The third time was not a charm for anti-nuclear activists in Oregon.

By about a 60-40 ratio, voters on Tuesday shot down two separate ballot measures that sought an immediate shutdown of the Trojan nuclear plant 40 miles northwest of Portland. One of the measures--which was being watched closely by utility companies and regulators nationwide as a potential precedent-setter--would have required that shareholders, rather than ratepayers, bear the hefty cost of shutting down the plant and disposing of the massive amounts of radioactive spent fuel at the site. The controversy was highlighted in a story Sunday in The Times.

The vote means that Portland General Electric, the plant’s principal owner, can proceed with a planned four-year phaseout that would shutter Trojan, the state’s only nuclear plant, in 1996.

For some of the activists, this was the third attempt in recent years aimed at closing the plant, which they contend is dangerous and uneconomical. Don’t Waste Oregon, the group behind one of the measures, vowed to be back with another initiative in 1994.

“We gave it the old college try and have no regrets,” said Jerry Wilson, who, with his wife, Marilyn, sponsored the measure that sought to stick shareholders with the cleanup tab. “History will show we were right.”

The mood at PGE was upbeat. “We think it was a vote of confidence in the four-year phase-out plan,” said Steve Sautter, a spokesman for the utility.