A nuclear cooling tower in Hartsville, Tennessee, was safely demolished by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The video shows how it went down.

In just seconds, a 540-foot hyperbolic nuclear cooling tower in Trousdale County, Tennessee, crumbled into a massive cloud of dust.

The planned early morning implosion marked the end of a structure built in the 1970s for a nuclear project that was later scrapped. For years, the tower drew curious visitors and created a safety hazard, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.

“Removing the cooling tower not only eliminates a safety risk, it’s also part of our effort to remove obsolete infrastructure and prepare sites for any future opportunities,” said Jayme Hobson, TVA’s general manager of demolition.

The TVA says the region’s rapid growth is fueling new energy demands, and clearing outdated structures helps pave the way for future projects.

Watch the video above to see the a huge tower come crashing down!

The story doesn’t end with rubble. TVA says the crew will crush the concrete for equipment storage and spread smaller pieces into a gravel lot, while recycling the tower’s steel for future use.

“Even though the cooling tower is gone, we’re preserving everything we can for other uses,” Hobson said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See a huge nuclear cooling tower come crashing down in planned implosion

Reporting by Ronnie Li, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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