Washington's Post-Apocalyptic Park Lets Tourists Explore An Abandoned Nuclear Power Plant

Would you go for a walk around an abandoned nuclear power plant? It might sound like the kind of thing that would only appeal to the most reckless of thrill-seekers, or a crack team of underdog heroes looking to save the world one last time, and certainly not a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon. But in Washington State's Grays Harbor County lies one of the most unusual tourist attractions around in the shape of the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant.

Satsop Nuclear Power Plant was conceived as the crown jewel of U.S. nuclear energy. Built in the 1970s, it was the largest nuclear power plant construction project in U.S. history, costing an extraordinary $25 billion. But in 1979, when construction was advanced but the project was not yet complete, disaster struck. The Three Mile Island meltdown was the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history at the time and shocked the country, turning public and political opinion away from nuclear power. With costs spiralling out of control, the Satsop project was abandoned with the plant just over 75% finished, with the reactor installed but never operational. Now, the cooling towers and domes remain, and the site has been redeveloped to form a fascinating tourist attraction, business park, training center, and filming location, which is a paradise for urban explorers and photographers alike.

Satsop Nuclear Power Plant is situated just outside Elma, Washington. It's an hour and a half from Seattle and about a 45-minute drive from Olympia, one of America's iconic, old-school towns that will transport you back to the 1960s. The nearest international airport is Seattle-Tacoma, and domestic flights arrive at Olympia Regional Airport on the other side of the Capitol State Forest.

Satsop Nuclear Power Plant never contained nuclear material, so there was never any risk of contamination. As a result, local business leaders were able to repurpose the site, which was reopened in 2013 by the Port of Grays Harbor, owned by the community. It became a business park with some fascinating and innovative tenants, as well as a place that lends itself brilliantly to dystopian film sets, atmospheric exploration, and deeply moody urban photography. Although the business park no longer offers organized walking tours of the campus, it is still free to enter, and visitors can wander around at their own pace or take a virtual tour of the space with a 20-minute series of videos.

The site includes a world-class acoustics laboratory, housed in the building designed for the nuclear reactor itself. The earthquake-proof construction, with its thick concrete walls and controlled atmospheric conditions, is perfect for testing sound, and scientists test everything from noise-canceling headphones and soundproof materials to noisy washing machines! Another fascinating spot on the campus is the training site for the Seattle Fire Department, housed in a tunnel that runs deep beneath the power plant.

The vast, looming cool towers and squat, concrete domes make Satsop an excellent place for photographers to visit and offer a brooding, Brutalist backdrop for photoshoots. It is also available as a filming location and has been used in various feature films, including "Transformers: Age of Extinction" and "Depth."

The Satsop nuclear power plant site might be something of an unnerving dark tourism destination, and probably more post-apocalyptic than most parks, but it is not without its natural beauty. Surrounded by lush green pine forests, it sits not far from the banks of the Chehalis River, part of the Chehalis Wildlife Area, and just a stone's throw from the gorgeous Capitol State Forest. The contrast between the grim, grey structures of the abandoned nuclear facility and the verdant greenery of the surrounding area adds an extra level of visual enjoyment for visitors.

Satsop isn't the only nuclear power plant that is open to the public. In fact, it's not even the only nuclear power plant you can visit in Washington state! The Hanford Nuclear Site, located between Portland and Seattle, was decommissioned in the late 1960s after playing a pivotal role in the Manhattan Project and is open to guided visits for free. Other sites in North America that offer tours include the Energy Explorium at the McGuire Nuclear Station near Charlotte, Bruce Nuclear in Canada, and the Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 in Illinois. You can even visit a nuclear test site in Nevada, the Sedan Crater, one of the most dangerous tourist attractions in America.