Construction of the first Austrian

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

Zwentendorf Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located at , in the Tulln Basin on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained public attention as the site of the only Austrian nuclear ...

on the Danube, about 30 kilometres upstream from the capital,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, began in 1972.

Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first commercial nuclear plant for electric power generation built in Austria, of three nuclear plants originally envisioned. Construction of the plant at Zwentendorf was finished but the plant never en ...

was designed as a

boiling water reactor A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor (PWR). BWR are thermal neutro ...

with a capacity of 700 MW(e), that was expected to generate about 10% of the Austrian electricity production. Many groups in the public society stood up against this commercial-technical development. From heritage and family-oriented more conservative people to utopian-driven leftists, activists for nature and the environment to critical technicians. They organised in a platform called "IÖAG - Initiative österreichischer Atomkraftwerksgegner" (transliterated: IOeAG), edited a simple DIN A5 brochure "Wie ist das mit den Atomkraftwerken wirklich?" (What is it about the nuclear power plants, really?) and an in volume and circulation growing newspaper, both financed by private members and a selling price. Many activists organised in groups, presented information desks, spoke to passing people visited and contributed offensive to official information events. However, in June 1978, the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Dr. Kreisky, announced a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

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 by ...

, which was set down for November 5, 1978. The referendum resulted in a narrow majority against the Zwentendorf plant. Nearly two thirds of the voters (3.26 million people) went to the polls and of these 49.5% voted for, and 50.5% against, nuclear power. Newspapers did not write much about accidents, that already had happened until then. But

Verbund Verbund AG, formerly known as Verbundgesellschaft or Österreichische Elektrizitätswirtschafts-AG, is Austria's largest electricity provider. Verbund covers around 40 percent of electricity demands in Austria and generates 90 percent thereof fro ...

- owning the big water power plants (and the grid) in Austria - feared a lowering of the price of electricity by the upcoming of nuclear power and started an advertising campaign in the months before the referendum in "Kronenzeitung". Suddenly this wide circulated newspaper published a series about the history and the accidents of nuclear power. The Zwentendorf plant was completed but has never produced electricity from nuclear energy.Austria's no to nuclear power
/ref> Austrian Chancellor

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

expects anti-nuclear petition drives to start in at least six European Union countries in 2012 with the goal of having the EU abandon nuclear power. Under the EU's Lisbon Treaty, petitions that attract at least one million signatures can seek legislative proposals from the European Commission. This would pave the way for anti-nuclear activists to increase support.

Organisations

Platform Against Nuclear Dangers (PLAGE)

Resistance Memorial − WAA construction fence at Mozartplatz ''Platform Against Nuclear Dangers'' (PLAGE) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and belongs to the ''Anti-nuclear movement in Austria''. The PLAGE was founded on May 20, 1986, shortly after the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

(April 26, 1986), as a Salzburg platform against the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n Wackersdorf reprocessing plant (WAA). By 1987, 120,000 Salzburg signatures had been collected against the

nuclear reprocessing Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the ...

plant (a total of almost 900,000 objections, of which 453,000 were from Austria). In the spring of 1989 the decision was made not to build the reprocessing plant. After the WAA collapsed in 1989, the platform was renamed ''Platform Against Nuclear Dangers'' (PLAGE). Today the platform also supports

renewable energies Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...

. In 2000, PLAGE erected the resistance monument against the WAA at

Mozartplatz , formerly known as , is a square in the Altstadt Salzburg, historic centre () of Salzburg in Austria. In the centre of the square is a statue in memory of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born in the city and after whom the square is ...

in Salzburg. "The Fence of Capital Offence" should commemorate the successful resistance to the WAA 1985-1989 - a civil protest movement, which crossed national frontiers and party lines. PLAGE criticises existing European treaties, first and foremost EURATOM, under which all EU Members pay for nuclear research whether or not they operate plants. 2020 PLAGE got the European Solar Prize - Category "Media and Communication" - Short video "Quit EURATOM"

anti atom komitee

The long-term goal is a nuclear power plant-free Europe. The association in

Freistadt Freistadt (, ) is a small Austrian town in the state of Upper Austria in the region Mühlviertel. With a population of approximately 7,500 residents, it is a trade centre for local villages. Freistadt is the economic centre of a district of the sa ...

has set itself the task of preventing the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in Europe. Furthermore, the association provides ideal support for all activities relating to renewable energy sources and alternative energies.

atomstopp_atomkraftfrei leben!

''atomstop_nuclear-free live!'' is a non-profit, non-partisan association based in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. They are fighting for a Europe - and ultimately a world - without nuclear power. atomstopp_atomkraftfrei leben!

Resources

Kein Kernkraftwerk in Zwentendorf! - 30 Jahre danach
(No nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf! - 30 years after) Museum Joanneum Graz, exhibition 01.11.2008-30.01.2009 and book by Sigrid Schönfelder for CLIO and Büro der Erinnerungen, German, visited 23.05.2014
Kernkraftwerk in Zwentendorf! - 30 Jahre Zwentendorf
KulturServer Graz, German, visited 23.05.2014
Das wichtigste NEIN unseres Lebens - AKW-ABSTIMMUNG Zwentendorf
Source:

Österreichische Mediathek The Österreichische Mediathek ("Austrian Mediatheque") is the Austrian archive for sound recordings and videos on cultural and contemporary history. It was founded in 1960 as Österreichische Phonothek (Austrian Phonothek) by the Ministry of Educ ...

, Online archive, article about the history and some historic audio documents, German, visited 23.05.2014
Akustische Chronik 1977-1978
Source:

, Online Archive, German, visited 23.05.2014
30 Jahre Zwentendorf: Ausstellung in Graz
Exhibition announcement - Kleine Zeitung, 31.10.2008, German, visited 23.05.2014

References

{{Anti-nuclear movement , state=expanded Politics of Austria Nuclear power in Austria Protests in Austria Environmentalism in Austria Peace movement in Austria