Brokdorf is a municipality in the district of

Steinburg Steinburg () is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, administered from Itzehoe. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Dithmarschen, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Segeberg and Pinneberg, and by the Elbe River (and the d ...

, in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located on the bank of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

river, approx. 20 km east before the river flows into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. As of December 2019, the total population of Brokdorf was 965 residents.

History

Nuclear reactor project

The planning for a light-water

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 ...

reactor at Brokdorf, 45 miles northwest of Hamburg, began in the late 1960s, and concerns about the Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant proposal became a public issue in November 1973, when several nuclear power reactors were already operating in Germany. During construction in the 1970s and 1980s there were violent protests about Brokdorf by opponents. The largest onsite demonstrations were in November 1976, February 1977, January 1981 and June 1986. In November 1976, more than 30,000 people demonstrated against the Brokdorf project. These protests led to a construction stop in October 1977, which was formally justified by the lack of a disposal strategy for spent fuel. Brokdorf had become a powerful symbol of the German

anti-nuclear movement The Anti-nuclear war movement is a new social movements, social movement that opposes various nuclear technology, nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified them ...

. February 1977, 6,500

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

and 2,000

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

officers were mobilized from across the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. Altogether, over 1,000 vehicles, including

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...

s, armored cars and other, were used by the authorities in Brokdorf. Roadblocks were erected throughout Germany, and people entering through the Danish and Dutch border were questioned in regards to their intentions.Gegen den Bau des AKW in Brokdorf
accessed 8 November 2008 When construction was about to resume in February 1981, about 100,000 people demonstrated against the project, confronting a police contingent of more than 10,000. At the time, this was the biggest police operation in West German history. More confrontations and political wrangling followed, but the Brokdorf nuclear power reactor eventually started operation in October 1986.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein Anti–nuclear power movement Anti-nuclear movement in Germany Steinburg

History

Nuclear reactor project

See also

References