The Trojan Powder Company had formerly manufactured gunpowder and dynamite on a 634 acres (257 ha) site on the banks of the Columbia River, 4 miles (6.4 km) from the town of Rainier, Oregon.

In 1967 Portland General Electric chose the site for a new nuclear power plant.

Construction began on February 1, 1970; first criticality was achieved on December 15, 1975, and grid connection eight days later on December 23.
Commercial operation began on May 20, 1976, under a 35-year license to expire in 2011.
At the time, the single 1130 megawatt unit at Trojan was the world's largest pressurized water reactor; it cost $460 million to build the plant.

Environmental opposition dogged Trojan from its inception, and the opposition included non-violent protests organized by the Trojan Decommissioning Alliance.
Direct action protests were held at the plant in 1977 and 1978, resulting in hundreds of arrests.

In 1978, the plant went offline on March 17 for routine refueling and was idle for nine months while modifications were made to improve its resistance to earthquakes.
This followed the discovery of both major building construction errors and the close proximity of a previously unknown fault.
The operators sued the builders, and an undisclosed out-of-court settlement was eventually reached.

The Trojan steam generators were designed to last the life of the plant, but it was only four years before premature cracking of the steam tubes was observed.
In October 1979, the plant was shut down through the end of the year for repairs.

In the 1980 election, a ballot measure to ban construction of further nuclear power plants in the state without federally approved waste facilities was approved by the voters 608,412 (53.2%) to 535,049 (46.8%).
In 1986, a ballot measure initiated by Lloyd Marbet for immediate closure of the Trojan plant failed 35.7% yes to 64.3% no.
This proposal was resubmitted in 1990, and again in 1992 when a similar proposal (by Jerry and Marilyn Wilson) to close the plant was also included.
Each measure was soundly defeated by vote margins over 210,000 votes.
 Although all closure proposals were defeated, the plant operators committed to successively earlier closure dates for the plant.

In 1992, PGE spent $4.5 million to successfully defeat ballot measures seeking to close Trojan immediately, rather than within four years, as PGE had planned.
At the time, it was the most expensive ballot measure campaign in Oregon history.
 A week after the election, the Trojan plant suffered another steam generator tube leak of radioactive water, and was shut down.
It was announced that replacement of the steam generators would be necessary.
In December 1992, documents were leaked from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission showing that staff scientists believed that Trojan might be unsafe to operate.
In early January 1993, PGE chief executive Ken Harrison announced the company would not try to restart Trojan.
The Trojan Powder Company had formerly manufactured gunpowder and dynamite on a 634 acres (257 ha) site on the banks of the Columbia River, 4 miles (6.4 km) from the town of Rainier, Oregon.
In 1967 Portland General Electric chose the site for a new nuclear power plant.
Construction began on February 1, 1970; first criticality was achieved on December 15, 1975, and grid connection eight days later on December 23. Commercial operation began on May 20, 1976, under a 35-year license to expire in 2011. At the time, the single 1130 megawatt unit at Trojan was the world's largest pressurized water reactor; it cost $460 million to build the plant.
Environmental opposition dogged Trojan from its inception, and the opposition included non-violent protests organized by the Trojan Decommissioning Alliance. Direct action protests were held at the plant in 1977 and 1978, resulting in hundreds of arrests.
In 1978, the plant went offline on March 17 for routine refueling and was idle for nine months while modifications were made to improve its resistance to earthquakes. This followed the discovery of both major building construction errors and the close proximity of a previously unknown fault. The operators sued the builders, and an undisclosed out-of-court settlement was eventually reached.
The Trojan steam generators were designed to last the life of the plant, but it was only four years before premature cracking of the steam tubes was observed. In October 1979, the plant was shut down through the end of the year for repairs.
In the 1980 election, a ballot measure to ban construction of further nuclear power plants in the state without federally approved waste facilities was approved by the voters 608,412 (53.2%) to 535,049 (46.8%). In 1986, a ballot measure initiated by Lloyd Marbet for immediate closure of the Trojan plant failed 35.7% yes to 64.3% no. This proposal was resubmitted in 1990, and again in 1992 when a similar proposal (by Jerry and Marilyn Wilson) to close the plant was also included. Each measure was soundly defeated by vote margins over 210,000 votes.  Although all closure proposals were defeated, the plant operators committed to successively earlier closure dates for the plant.
In 1992, PGE spent $4.5 million to successfully defeat ballot measures seeking to close Trojan immediately, rather than within four years, as PGE had planned. At the time, it was the most expensive ballot measure campaign in Oregon history.  A week after the election, the Trojan plant suffered another steam generator tube leak of radioactive water, and was shut down. It was announced that replacement of the steam generators would be necessary. In December 1992, documents were leaked from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission showing that staff scientists believed that Trojan might be unsafe to operate. In early January 1993, PGE chief executive Ken Harrison announced the company would not try to restart Trojan.
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant