My dad worked during the construction phase of unit 3. He then went to work for TVA in the early 70's. He stayed there until 1986 when he retired. Say what you will about this place and others, they provided a living for many families through the years. Then it provide a very good retirement for him and my mom afterward.
People just love to complain, they have no problem using the resources for human comforts but will immediately jump on the bandwagon of misery to demonize what they know nothing about.
@@rapman5363 I agree. I see people everyday complaining about dirty power. I bet they never stop and think about where the electricity for their EV cones from.
When I heard the location of the plant, I was immediately reminded of John Prine's song "Paradise". Yup, same town, but his villain was Peabody for mining the coal. RIP, John.
Peabody was the villain. Not long after the last person left Paradise Peabody stripped mined the coal under the town. The Paradise power plant was built within seeing distance of the town.
By 1967 the town of Paradise was gone. TVA rendered the area unsafe for habitation (coal ash fallout) and paid the people who lived there "fair market value" for their land and forced them to leave. I grew up in the area and have talked to some of the people who were displaced in this process.
The government couldn’t wait to force people out and now have forced people out of jobs too. Why stop at ruining a small town when you ruin a whole county. This is the very reason why the government should be replaced
My grandfather ran a dragline at Paradise for many years and I would go sit in the cab with him as a child. Funny, I am visiting the family home this week and I took a detour with my sister and we visited the plant. They are taking it apart. There was plenty of black lung in the family and I'm sure the building of Paradise was fraught with issues but it did employ generations of people and paid well. I saw the smoke over the hill every morning I went to school. By the early 80's It was always black in the morning then white by around 9 or 10AM because they wouldn't turn on the scrubbers to remove the heavy metals and such until TVA spotter saw the EPA fly-through test airplane leave the airport. The scrubbers reduced the efficiency and thus profit of the plant. We had nice Christmases though.
My da's side of the family were all from Paradise. As a child I visited there iften till they were all forced out in 1967. It was sad. They didnt want to leave. My uncle had built his house himself and he had to move.
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This coal plant is a very good application of thermodynamics. Turbines,pumps, condenser,and boiler , what a magnificent representation of human ingenuity.
It is also a good application of power by the government, no matter what anyone thinks it was a huge and devastating invasion to the people who had called this area home for many generations.
There’s a lot of complaints in these comments about the plant, but those who complain don’t thank TVA for the electricity provided to them. - I’m curious if the complainers turned down a nuclear plant in exchange for Paradise ? - We all need electricity and green energy isn’t the answer, maybe to supplement somewhat but it’s not ever going to be the primary source.
Thanks this is sweet! Pretty close to me and I've been by the facility. Seeing that it has closed permanently and its on my radar for an urbex explore its almost like i already have an inside look!!!
That is or was a huge coal fired plant if it can produce half the needs of a city equivalent to New York City. - I wonder if it was ever switched to natural gas ?
A man in my Paducah Kentucky National Guard unit was a diver for the Army Corps of Engineers. He was working on the Kentucky Lake Dam power generators and somehow became sucked into one and was chopped into bits. I have no idea why he’d even be in the water while they were generating. It made no sense.
The safety standard of disengaging and physically locking out all hazardous energy sources during maintenance procedures, or lockout/tagout - wasn’t formally put on the federal books until September 1, 1989. Though it’s certainly a fact that the concept of “turning it off” was understood and generally implemented DECADES BEFORE - accidents DID occur.
@@u.s.militia7682 are you sure it was at paradise because the same thing happened at new johnsonville when a diver was in the tunnel for inspection and cleanout
I was born and raised in W. Ky. Now the coal has to be shipped by river barge to these power plants. I worked for years as a deckhand for AEP. TVA raped the whole area. Now they’re raping other areas to keep it all going. They’ve created pollution to no end and they’re not done yet. Now I live in SW Virginia where they’re running out of coal and are resulting to fracking. The once bustling towns here are a near memory.
“...and with enormous chimneys to make sure the ash and waste gases are thoroughly dispersed in the atmosphere.” Ewwwww! 😷 Heck of a civil engineering project though.
Yeah, basic laws of physics (thermodynamics) say that you're not going to do much better than that (for steam and coal, or for any kind of heat engine). If you look at what they built, it's not like they were sloppy engineers, wastefully cutting corners. The thing was clearly a masterpiece. If there's something to lament, then its the other things, unmentioned: pollution from fly ash. ("dispersed in the atmosphere") The acid rain. Things they didn't know: global warming.
They knew. A lot was covered up, literally. I grew up near here. I remember the water in the early 1970’s and the red to orange tinge floating on top of it. We used to skip rocks on it and make cool designs on it. We didn’t even know it was polluted. Swam in it and ate fish out of it for years. Everyone on moms side of the family has cancer except for her and that’s because she moved from that area in the 60’s.
My dad worked during the construction phase of unit 3. He then went to work for TVA in the early 70's. He stayed there until 1986 when he retired. Say what you will about this place and others, they provided a living for many families through the years. Then it provide a very good retirement for him and my mom afterward.
People just love to complain, they have no problem using the resources for human comforts but will immediately jump on the bandwagon of misery to demonize what they know nothing about.
@@rapman5363 I agree. I see people everyday complaining about dirty power. I bet they never stop and think about where the electricity for their EV cones from.
When I heard the location of the plant, I was immediately reminded of John Prine's song "Paradise". Yup, same town, but his villain was Peabody for mining the coal. RIP, John.
Peabody was the villain. Not long after the last person left Paradise Peabody stripped mined the coal under the town. The Paradise power plant was built within seeing distance of the town.
By 1967 the town of Paradise was gone. TVA rendered the area unsafe for habitation (coal ash fallout) and paid the people who lived there "fair market value" for their land and forced them to leave. I grew up in the area and have talked to some of the people who were displaced in this process.
Thanks for the comment. Fascinating and tragic!
@@PeriscopeFilm As are most stories that involve the TVA, unfortunately.
TVA appropriated some of my great uncle's farmland for the project. He never forgave them.
My dad and grand parents were from Paradise, Ky. I visted there many times till they were forced out in 1967.
The government couldn’t wait to force people out and now have forced people out of jobs too. Why stop at ruining a small town when you ruin a whole county. This is the very reason why the government should be replaced
My grandfather ran a dragline at Paradise for many years and I would go sit in the cab with him as a child. Funny, I am visiting the family home this week and I took a detour with my sister and we visited the plant. They are taking it apart. There was plenty of black lung in the family and I'm sure the building of Paradise was fraught with issues but it did employ generations of people and paid well. I saw the smoke over the hill every morning I went to school. By the early 80's It was always black in the morning then white by around 9 or 10AM because they wouldn't turn on the scrubbers to remove the heavy metals and such until TVA spotter saw the EPA fly-through test airplane leave the airport. The scrubbers reduced the efficiency and thus profit of the plant. We had nice Christmases though.
My da's side of the family were all from Paradise. As a child I visited there iften till they were all forced out in 1967. It was sad. They didnt want to leave. My uncle had built his house himself and he had to move.
Thanks for providing this look into how coal powerplants were made back in the day, it is fascinating to see how things were done in the past
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Im still making them... 2021
This coal plant is a very good application of thermodynamics. Turbines,pumps, condenser,and boiler , what a magnificent representation of human ingenuity.
It is also a good application of power by the government, no matter what anyone thinks it was a huge and devastating invasion to the people who had called this area home for many generations.
My Father worked at Paradise in 1963. I worked there in in 1985. Both Boilermakers out of Local 27 in St. Louis.
Paradise, KY. Remembered in song by the late and great John Prine. Thank you Mr. Prine, rest in peace.
Yeah, dear Mr. Peabody!
I love that song.
@@roblarson5302 And it's true is the best part even if it's a sad ending for that country.
Check out, "the other favorites " cover of that song.
There’s a lot of complaints in these comments about the plant, but those who complain don’t thank TVA for the electricity provided to them.
- I’m curious if the complainers turned down a nuclear plant in exchange for Paradise ?
- We all need electricity and green energy isn’t the answer, maybe to supplement somewhat but it’s not ever going to be the primary source.
Thanks this is sweet! Pretty close to me and I've been by the facility. Seeing that it has closed permanently and its on my radar for an urbex explore its almost like i already have an inside look!!!
There won't be any looking inside. It's still manned guarded and being demolished.
..Huntsville, Alabama ❤ Tennessee valley
working at one of about the same age and love it....
“Papa got a job with the TVA… he bougt a washing machine then a chev ro let”
That is or was a huge coal fired plant if it can produce half the needs of a city equivalent to New York City.
- I wonder if it was ever switched to natural gas ?
it has gas turbines now
A man in my Paducah Kentucky National Guard unit was a diver for the Army Corps of Engineers. He was working on the Kentucky Lake Dam power generators and somehow became sucked into one and was chopped into bits. I have no idea why he’d even be in the water while they were generating. It made no sense.
The safety standard of disengaging and physically locking out all hazardous energy sources during maintenance procedures, or lockout/tagout - wasn’t formally put on the federal books until September 1, 1989. Though it’s certainly a fact that the concept of “turning it off” was understood and generally implemented DECADES BEFORE - accidents DID occur.
Unbroken Andalive if I remember right I think this happened in 89 or 90.
@@u.s.militia7682 are you sure it was at paradise because the same thing happened at new johnsonville when a diver was in the tunnel for inspection and cleanout
I thought it was just a prop on the end of a generator thrown into the river.
I was born and raised in W. Ky. Now the coal has to be shipped by river barge to these power plants. I worked for years as a deckhand for AEP. TVA raped the whole area. Now they’re raping other areas to keep it all going. They’ve created pollution to no end and they’re not done yet. Now I live in SW Virginia where they’re running out of coal and are resulting to fracking. The once bustling towns here are a near memory.
What is up with the clip from 16:36 to 16:39 ?
I lived close to where Paradise once was. It's a shame what happened there.
I was born not far from there in Caldwell County. All my uncles worked for Peabody Coal Co. I learned how to waterski on the Green River.
Ecological vandalism aside, a very interesting video.
Omg I just found a picture of my Grandfather in 1964! At Oak Ridge Under the "U" in Nuclear 😳
It seemed like a good idea at the time - what could possibly go wrong?
PROGRESS!! Life's a bitch and then your home disappeared!
Back when Americans learned trades instead of majoring in feelings.
Amen.
But you aren’t butthurt & boo-boo lipped that the Orange Aneurysm was voted out of office, right tough guy?
Here, here ! Amen 🙏
“...and with enormous chimneys to make sure the ash and waste gases are thoroughly dispersed in the atmosphere.”
Ewwwww! 😷
Heck of a civil engineering project though.
61%waste
Yeah, basic laws of physics (thermodynamics) say that you're not going to do much better than that (for steam and coal, or for any kind of heat engine). If you look at what they built, it's not like they were sloppy engineers, wastefully cutting corners. The thing was clearly a masterpiece.
If there's something to lament, then its the other things, unmentioned: pollution from fly ash. ("dispersed in the atmosphere") The acid rain. Things they didn't know: global warming.
Why can't Americans pronounce TURBINE? It's not a rag wrapped around the head...
If only they had known the damage they were doing to the environment.
Evolution look where we are now did you always get it right the first time
They knew. A lot was covered up, literally. I grew up near here. I remember the water in the early 1970’s and the red to orange tinge floating on top of it. We used to skip rocks on it and make cool designs on it. We didn’t even know it was polluted. Swam in it and ate fish out of it for years. Everyone on moms side of the family has cancer except for her and that’s because she moved from that area in the 60’s.
Pleasing architecture LOL