The Montague Nuclear Power Plant was a proposed

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

plant to be located in

Montague, Massachusetts Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,580 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area. The villages of Montague Center, Montague City, La ...

. The plant was to consist of two 1150 MWe

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

boiling water reactors A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is a design different from a Soviet graphite-moderated RBMK. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuc ...

. The project was proposed in 1973 and canceled in 1980, after $29 million was spent on the project. On 22 February 1974, Washington's Birthday, organic farmer Sam Lovejoy took a crowbar to the weather-monitoring tower which had been erected at the site on the Montague Plains. Lovejoy felled 349 feet of the 550-foot tower and then took himself to the local police station, where he presented a statement in which he took full responsibility for the action. Lovejoy went on trial in September 1974 on charges of malicious destruction, but was acquitted on a technicality. Lovejoy's action galvanized local public opinion against the plant which ended the project entirely.Utilities Drop Nuclear Power Plant Plans
''Ocala Star-Banner'', January 4, 1981.Anna Gyorgy (1980)
No Nukes: Everyone's Guide to Nuclear Power
South End Press, , pp. 393-394. In 1975, Lovejoy made the first documentary film to emerge on the

anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...

, and Lovejoy's story, called ''Lovejoy's Nuclear War''. He later helped to form the

Clamshell Alliance The Clamshell Alliance is an anti-nuclear organization founded in 1976 to oppose the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The alliance has been dormant for many years. The group was co-founded by Paul Gunter, ...

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

group. In 1977, the Clamshell Alliance was involved in a series of mass protests against utilities attempting to build nuclear power plants, occupying the proposed site of the Seabrook nuclear power reactor in New Hampshire. This series of protests, which resulted in 1,400 arrests, inspired nuclear opposition groups in other parts of the United States. A total of 63 nuclear units were canceled in the USA between 1975 and 1980. Many nuclear plant proposals were no longer viable due to the downturn of electricity demand increases, significant cost and time overruns, and more complex regulatory requirements. Also, there was considerable public opposition to nuclear power in the US by this time.Nuclear power: Futures, Costs, and Benefits
p. 16.

References

{{Coord, 42.576132, -72.52667, display=title Cancelled nuclear power stations in the United States Montague, Massachusetts Nuclear power plants in Massachusetts Anti–nuclear power movement Anti-nuclear movement in the United States

See also

References