It was another perfect day in Tenneesse that found our rather unique crew out in the rural areas just outside of Kingsport. I had been wise and left my Ontario plated car behind as Ontario was a good twelve to fourteen hour drive north. Our target...the newly renamed "Government Tractors" formerly known as Baby Spiders. Like it's bigger cousin, Government Spiders four hours west, Tractors is a never completed Nuclear Power Station.
Construction began in 1977, Tractors was going to be a two unit, boiling water reactor. But after the incident at three mile island in 1979, and costs going higher and higher, construction was halted in 1982, after a lot of work had been completed on one of the units, even the base of hte cooling tower had been completed, but not the tower itself. Construction of the second reactor unit never was started.
Today, it's a playground of rebar and concrete. Our group, moves in, keeping it to small numbers for entrance as to not alert local businesses to our little foray into this abandoned behemoth. Under the fence and up and ramp and we're inside, I was in awe. I mean I had been to power stations before, but all completed and then abandoned, but they were coal powered, never nuclear...and never in such a semi-complete state. It was rust and concrete everywhere....and farm equipment (hense the new nickname of Government Tractors).
After an aerial silks show by our host, we slipped back out, right under the the noses of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)...and reconvened for dinner in downtown Johnson City for good German food...beer, and even music!
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Up on the Silks -- taken with a 1970s 35mm Tilt-Shift lens and a guessed exposure10
Our entertainment for the eveningNikon D300 - AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8 (save No. 9 with a PC-Nikkor 35mm 1:2.
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