By: Samuel Guerra
On Sept. 18, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—the largest public power supplier in the United States—released a video on social media showing the controlled implosion of a 540-foot-tall abandoned nuclear cooling tower in Hartsville, Tenn., an hour northeast of Nashville.
In seconds, the structure collapsed into a massive cloud of dust. With it crumbled the hopes of many who envisioned the plant as a safer, cleaner and more reliable source of energy.
Construction of the power plant was halted in the 1980s before it ever generated electricity. The site remained dormant for decades. According to TVA, crews will crush the concrete for use in equipment storage and recycle the tower’s steel for future projects. “Removing the cooling tower not only eliminates a safety risk, but it’s also part of our effort to remove obsolete infrastructure and prepare sites for future opportunities,” said Jayme Hobson, TVA’s general manager of demolition.
The Hartsville nuclear plant was part of a bold 1970s vision to deliver clean, reliable, carbon-free electricity across the Tennessee Valley.
But in the wake of the 1979 partial meltdown at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear station, public fear surged, and support collapsed.
UPI reported in August 1984 that TVA made the fateful decision to cancel the project entirely. They accepted a $2.7 billion loss—equivalent to roughly $8.4 billion today—not because the technology failed, but because its costs rose and confidence in it plummeted. For more than four decades, the cooling tower stood as a silent structure frozen in time, neither repurposed nor removed, yet impossible to ignore.
Its controlled implosion serves as a physical reminder of an era when fear defined energy policies. Nuclear energy technology has changed significantly since then, advancing considerably, making it safer, cleaner and more reliable than ever before.
Compared to the millions who die every year from air pollution resulting from fossil fuels, the death toll from nuclear energy is far, far lower.
According to a 2020 Our World in Data analysis, the number of deaths per terawatt-hour of nuclear energy produced is only 0.3, even after catastrophes like Chernobyl. This figure stands in stark contrast to the 32.7 deaths caused by brown coal or the 18.4 deaths caused by oil per terawatt-hour.
Nuclear power is also far cleaner. Coal, for example, produces 160 times more CO₂ than nuclear energy, and oil-based energy emits 120 times more CO₂ than nuclear. These are staggeringly large differences.
Last but not least, the U.S. Department of Energy reported in 2021 that nuclear energy is by far the most reliable source of energy, meaning it can operate at full capacity for most of the year. To be precise, nuclear power plants produce maximum power more than 92% of the time. By contrast, coal plants operate at maximum capacity only 40% of the year.
The recent cooling tower demolition in Hartsville may have cleared a patch of land, but it also cleared space for a vital conversation: What if the old fears about nuclear energy no longer reflect today’s reality?
We cannot let the shadows of past fears dictate our energy future. The data is unequivocal: Nuclear energy is one of the safest, cleanest and most reliable power sources available today.
Around the world, nations are acting on that reality. China is building more nuclear reactors than any other country. India and South Korea are also expanding nuclear capacity to meet rising demand. That demand is accelerating at home, too: AI data centers are driving up electricity use across multiple states, pushing energy costs higher for consumers. Rather than dwelling on what Hartsville’s demolished facility could have been, we should be building on the lessons it represents.
As the United States seeks to ensure energy security and keep pace with global energy progress, turning away from nuclear would be repeating the very mistake made four decades ago—not for lack of technology, but for lack of courage. This time, let’s choose facts over fear, and vision over retreat. The future of clean energy depends on it.
