Poseidon Energy Plant WV-06

Poseidon Energy Plant WV-06 is a location in the Forest region of Appalachia in 2103.

Background
A coal power plant originally built in the 1970s to provide power for the western parts of Appalachia, the plant gained a new lease on life as Poseidon Energy made a deal with Atomic Mining Services to retrofit the plant. Instead of depleting increasingly expensive coal, the plant would burn ultracite to generate power, using the old coal infrastructure and turbines. The corporate influence of these two companies and their close ties to the federal government resulted in intense controls and oversight, as well as access to military assets, should the need arise.

The switchover coincided with an increasingly hostile approach to workers at the plant, culminating in a walkout. The workers wanted a contract that gave them job security and was supported by the Associated Miner's Union under its steward, Jacob Hargraves. Although the plant manager, Renee Hargraves, was sympathetic to their cause for reasons both marital and professional, the head of security, Brent Olson, was not. As per company policy, all workers who joined the picket outside the plant were fired on the spot, giving Olsen the opportunity to replace them with automated workers. To prevent the plant manager from interfering, he declared a state of emergency and a Class-III lockdown, putting him in charge of the plant until the strike was dealt with.

His plan relied on using the military to break up the strike. As the plant was using ultracite, he had no trouble convincing the executives that this was a national security issue. The National Guard arrived with heavy tanks, APCs, and a full load of HalluciGen, Inc. patented riot control gas. The plan was to gas the picketing strikers, making them turn on each other, turning a strike into a deadly riot that could then be leveraged to further weaken organized labor. What they didn't realize was that the gas would turn the peaceful protesters into a violent, raging horde. Once the gas took effect, they rushed through the smoke, attacking the soldiers and tearing off their gas masks, turning a strike into a bloody disaster.

The AMU steward was one of the first casualties, taking his life when he realized what the gas was doing to the strikers. His wife, the plant manager, took her own life after witnessing the disaster unfold. Although the plant was sealed up securely, the aborted southern expansion was quickly identified by the rampaging horde as a point of access, as Poseidon engineers plainly forgot to install the security doors there. Once the horde was inside, the plant was lost. Olsen holed himself up with his security terminal in the hazardous material storage, logging evidence about the riot and his final statement on a holotape, in a bout of conscience coming to a trifle too late.

With the Great War occurring soon after, there was nobody to act on the evidence and Charleston soon had other problems on its hands. The automated power plant continued to operate until damage accumulated and forced a shutdown. When the system was finally reset, the evidence of military and corporate involvement in the debacle was erased, with only Olsen's final words surviving.

Layout
Located at the northeastern end of Charleston, the Poseidon nuclear power plant is a massive beast, with two large cooling towers to the northeast and another expansion to the southwest, surrounding the main building. The parking lot to the south and the main gates border the transformer yard, which is a claimable workshop. Just on the other side of the road is a protest camp erected by the miners during the repeat of the coal wars before the Great War.

The exterior has a number of locations to inspect. Each cooling tower has a maintenance hut, with a collectible spawn nearby (western tower has a Vault-Tec bobblehead outside the doors, the eastern tower with a magazine in the hut). The roof is worth checking out as well for a number of maintenance huts and gantries that contain loot spawns, collectibles, and a locked safe.

There are four possible ways of entry into Poseidon Energy Plant WV-06, the door to the southern expansion, the main doors to the plant floor (which require level 3 hacking or Poseidon plant access codes which can be obtained by registering at a security terminal once inside) and a door in each of the cooling towers, which can be accessed by entering from below and climbing the catwalks to the top (entering the cooling towers when the power plant has been powered up will cause constant damage to the player's health).

Upon entering the southern expansion of the plant there is a security office directly in front and a staircase next to it on the right leading down to the cooling level of the plant, a number of scorched spawn here and it is best to travel with a partner. Upon entering the first room there is a large doorway on the center-right which leads to the decaying ruins of a cooling tower, the floor is flooded with radioactive water and destroyed catwalks are scattered everywhere, on the left side of the entrance there is a broken catwalk which acts as a ramp to the control pod in the center of the tower, going through here straight ahead will lead to another catwalk which leads through a tunnel towards a door that leads to the basement.

By 2103, the southern expansion cooling tower has been fortified as a Raider encampment. Lev, Surge, Caleb Fisher, and a select group of Raiders from The Crater who defected with them from Meg Groberg's crew make this their home until visited by the Vault 76 resident who sided with Meg for the raid on Vault 79 to kill them for their betrayal and intending to overthrow Meg because of her decision to let people like Lucky Lou and Gail join the Raiders, which disgusted Lev.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and notes
 * Poseidon security director's recording - Holotape, found in the basement areas of the plant on a desk next to the hazmat terminal.
 * Apologies to Lou - Holotape, inside the South Expansion, on a cabinet in a separate room to the northwest, behind the double doors on the same level as Lev's room. The doors are most easily accessed by the nearby broken piping.
 * Bless y'all's hearts - Holotape, on a small table in the topmost area of the South Expansion.
 * Blood Eagle oath - Holotape, near the entrance inside the South Expansion.
 * Rocco and Lev's deal - Holotape, on a desk in the South Expansion room where Lev is hiding.
 * Collectibles
 * Five potential Vault-Tec bobbleheads:
 * At the end of the giant T-shaped horizontal pipes that enter the first of the two cooling towers, near a chem-addled skeleton; access via the gantry stairs on the northeast side of the main building.
 * On the roof of the plant at the end of the highest scaffolding, next to a minigun and red steamer trunk.
 * On the west corner of the expansion cooling tower roof, by a skeleton, slumped against the tower with chems scattered about. Enhanced jumping may be required to reach this location.
 * In the largest pool in the fuel storage chamber, on an underwater girder (interior).
 * In the reactor room, on the south side girders (with cap stashes), supporting the top of the reactor near the ceiling; carefully jump from the computer bank on the highest gantry to eventually reach it.
 * Eight potential magazines:
 * On the northeastern gantry platforms and stairs facing the cooling towers, inside the small blue maintenance hut, on the small filing cabinet near the metal desk with the broken terminal.
 * On the northwestern edge of the main plant roof’s highest level, behind the smokestacks, propped up against the radio by the teddy bears' picnic scene.
 * On the main plant roof just above the front entrance, on the yellow diagnostic cart.
 * In the center of cooling tower #1, inside the maintenance room, between the consoles and the machinery.
 * In the locker room near the reactor room, behind some boxes.
 * In the basement locker room, on the lowest shelf of the metal shelves near the overturned cart.
 * In the plant manager's office, near the windows overlooking the turbine hall, on the desk.
 * In the reactor room, on the top-most gantry platform, on the table.
 * Other loot
 * Poseidon plant access codes - Obtained by selecting "Issue Security Credentials" on the plant security terminal in the facility, grants access to all terminal locked doors in the facility.
 * Poseidon plant manager's password - On a shelf, gives access to the nearby plant manager's terminal.
 * Poseidon hazmat storage key - Found in the facility. Opens all locked doors in the basement.
 * Two fusion cores:
 * Next to the workshop.
 * Inside the basement, inside a locked room with a wall cabinet, on top of the lower cabinet, near a blue basket.
 * Power armor chassis with T-series armor pieces - Can be found in a locked armory in the basement, with misc. parts attached, there will also be another fusion core sitting on the cabinet next to the chassis.
 * Hazmat suits:
 * One hazmat suit can be found outside on the west side of the main building roof, in a metal trailer near the catwalks up to the smokestacks.
 * Three damaged hazmat suits can be found in open metal lockers near the decontamination arch leading into the reactor room inside.
 * Potential armor plan - Inside the basement, to the left of a weapons workbench, on a metal surgical cart.
 * Potential weapon mod plan - Inside the plant, underneath the 'Pipe Interchange' area, on a cabinet shelf within a workstation with a tinker's workbench.
 * Potential workshop plan - Inside the metal shack in the gated area close to the workshop bench, to the right of the ammo box on the cabinet.
 * Two potential armor mods:
 * At the protesters' camp, inside a large tent near a cooking station, on a table.
 * Inside the basement, to the left of an armor workbench, on the bottom of a metal shelf.
 * Potential weapon mod - Inside the plant, within the fuel storage room, to the right of a terminal, on the console.
 * Chainsaw - Inside the South Expansion, on a table with a portable grill, on the upper level accessed through the broken pipes.

Appearances
Poseidon Energy Plant WV-06 appears only in Fallout 76, and was expanded upon in the Wastelanders update.

Behind the scenes
The plant is similar in appearance and geographical location to the real life John E. Amos Power Plant, located in Winfield, West Virginia.