Anti-nuclear movement in Austria

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Construction of the first Austrian nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf on the Danube, about 30 kilometres upstream from the capital, Vienna, began in 1972. Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was designed as a boiling water reactor with a capacity of 700 MW(e), that was expected to generate about 10% of the Austrian electricity production. [1]

Contents

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 Chancellor Dr. Kreisky, announced a referendum on nuclear power, 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 - 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.[ citation needed ]

The Zwentendorf plant was completed but has never produced electricity from nuclear energy. [1] [2]

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann 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. [3]

Organisations

Platform Against Nuclear Dangers (PLAGE)

Resistance Memorial - WAA construction fence at Mozartplatz Salzburg - Altstadt - Mozartplatz 'Der Zaun des Anstosses' - 2018 11 21-1.jpg
Resistance Memorial − WAA construction fence at Mozartplatz
Zaun des Anstosses.jpg

Platform Against Nuclear Dangers (PLAGE) [4] is a nonprofit organization in Salzburg and belongs to the Anti-nuclear movement in Austria.

The PLAGE was founded on May 20, 1986, shortly after the Chernobyl disaster (April 26, 1986), as a Salzburg platform against the Bavarian Wackersdorf reprocessing plant (WAA). [5] By 1987, 120,000 Salzburg signatures had been collected against the nuclear reprocessing 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). [6] Today the platform also supports renewable energies.

In 2000, PLAGE erected the resistance monument against the WAA at Mozartplatz 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. [7] 2020 PLAGE got the European Solar Prize - Category "Media and Communication" - Short video "Quit EURATOM" [8]

anti atom komitee

The long-term goal is a nuclear power plant-free Europe. The association in Freistadt 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. [9]

atomstopp_atomkraftfrei leben!

atomstop_nuclear-free live! is a non-profit, non-partisan association based in Linz. Tey are fighting for a Europe - and ultimately a world - without nuclear power. [10]

Resources

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euratom</span> International organisation

The European Atomic Energy Community is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nuclear energy and distributing it to its member states while selling the surplus to non-member states. However, over the years its scope has been considerably increased to cover a large variety of areas associated with nuclear power and ionising radiation as diverse as safeguarding of nuclear materials, radiation protection and construction of the International Fusion Reactor ITER.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zwentendorf</span> Place in Lower Austria, Austria

Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located at 48°21′N15°54′E, in the Tulln Basin on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained public attention as the site of the only Austrian nuclear power station, which was completed but never went into operation. In a referendum on 5 November 1978, a narrow majority of 50.5% voted against putting the Zwentendorf nuclear plant into operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power phase-out</span> Discontinuation of usage of nuclear power for energy production

A nuclear power phase-out is the discontinuation of usage of nuclear power for energy production. Often initiated because of concerns about nuclear power, phase-outs usually include shutting down nuclear power plants and looking towards fossil fuels and renewable energy. Three nuclear accidents have influenced the discontinuation of nuclear power: the 1979 Three Mile Island partial nuclear meltdown in the United States, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the USSR, and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">THTR-300</span> Thorium nuclear reactor in Germany

The THTR-300 was a thorium cycle high-temperature nuclear reactor rated at 300 MW electric (THTR-300) in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany. It started operating in 1983, synchronized with the grid in 1985, operated at full power in February 1987 and was shut down September 1, 1989. The THTR-300 served as a prototype high-temperature reactor (HTR) to use the TRISO pebble fuel produced by the AVR, an experimental pebble bed operated by VEW. The THTR-300 cost €2.05 billion and was predicted to cost an additional €425 million through December 2009 in decommissioning and other associated costs. The German state of North Rhine Westphalia, Federal Republic of Germany, and Hochtemperatur-Kernkraftwerk GmbH (HKG) financed the THTR-300’s construction.

As of 2023, Finland has five operating nuclear reactors in two power plants, all located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Nuclear power provided about 34% of the country's electricity generation in 2020. The first research nuclear reactor in Finland was commissioned in 1962 and the first commercial reactor started operation in 1977. The fifth reactor started operation in April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power by country</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival</span>

The Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival was a series of political rock concerts which took place in Germany during the 1980s. Its purpose was to support protests against the planned nuclear reprocessing plant Wackersdorf in Wackersdorf. In 1986, the fifth festival marked the peak of the protest movement against the plant. With over 100,000 people attending on 26 and 27 July, it was the largest rock concert in the history of Germany. The line-up included some of Germany's most popular music acts of the time such as BAP, Die Toten Hosen, Udo Lindenberg, Rio Reiser, Herbert Grönemeyer. The festival remained completely peaceful, contrary to government expectations. As a result of the overwhelming protests, the festivals resulted in unexpected media coverage for the anti-nuclear movement in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in the Czech Republic</span>

The Czech Republic operates two nuclear power plants: Temelín and Dukovany. As of 2019 the government intends to increase the share of nuclear electricity production from 30 % to 58 %. To this end, a new reactor is to be constructed at the Dukovany site, which will replace older units by 2035. New capacities are also expected to be added at the Temelín site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dürnrohr Power Station</span>

The Dürnrohr power station is a thermal power station in Lower Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant</span>

The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant is located near Leibstadt, canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on the Rhine River and close to the border to Germany. Commissioned in 1984, it is the youngest and most powerful of the country's four operating reactors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freda Meissner-Blau</span> Austrian politician and activist (1927–2015)

Freda Meissner-Blau was an Austrian politician, activist, and prominent figurehead in the Austrian environmental movement. She was a founder and the federal spokesperson of the Austrian Green Party.

Hildegard Breiner is from Vorarlberg, Austria, where she and her late husband led the anti-nuclear campaign against Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant in the 1970s. In 1978, an unprecedented 85 percent of the voters in Vorarlberg cast their votes against Zwentendorf, tipping the scales of the nationwide referendum. In the second half of the 1980s, Hildegard Breiner played a major role in opposition to the nuclear reprocessing plant Wackersdorf to be built at Wackersdorf in neighbouring Bavaria, Germany. In 2004, Hildegard Breiner received the Nuclear-Free Future Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nuclear power in the European Union accounted for approximately 26% of total electricity production in 2019 and nearly half of low-carbon energy production across the EU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant</span> Never-used Austrian power plant built in the 1970s

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 entered service. The start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, as well as the construction of the other two plants, was prevented by a referendum on 5 November 1978, in which a narrow majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in Austria</span>

In the 1960s the Austrian government started a nuclear-energy program and parliament unanimously ordered a nuclear power-plant built. In 1972, the German company KWU began construction of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant boiling-water 700 MWe reactor. In 1976, two years prior to the nuclear power-plant opening, the government began a program to educate its citizens on the benefits and safety of nuclear power. However, this campaign began a public discussion that led to large demonstrations against the Zwentendorf plant in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 Austrian nuclear power referendum</span>

A referendum on the use of nuclear power was held in Austria on 5 November 1978. Voters were asked whether they approved a law allowing the peaceful use of nuclear power, particularly relating to the start-up of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant. Voters narrowly rejected it, with 50.5% voting against. As a result, although the Power Plant was finished, it never operated and has been repurposed for various projects over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Austria</span>

As of the end of 2022, solar power in Austria amounted to nearly 3.8 gigawatt (GW) of cumulative photovoltaic (PV) capacity, with the energy source producing 4.2% of the nation's electricity.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to nuclear power:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wackersdorf reprocessing plant</span> Unfinished nuclear reprocessing plant in Germany

The Wackersdorf nuclear reprocessing plant is a reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf in Bavaria, Germany. Because of protests the plant was never completed. Today it is an industrial site with no special features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupation of the Hainburger Au</span>

The Occupation of the Hainburger Au wetlands in December 1984 marked a turning point for environmental awareness in German speaking central Europe and was of great significance for the development of democratic processes in Austria.

References

  1. 1 2 Austria's no to nuclear power
  2. "Austria's Anti-Nuclear Crusade" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  3. "Austria expects EU anti-nuclear campaign this year". Reuters. Mar 12, 2012.
  4. Official website PLAGE
  5. Einige Eckdaten des österreichischen Widerstands gegen die WAA - (Radi Aktiv, nr 13, April 1987, p.64f. bei Laka (Archiv))
  6. PLAGE 1978-1989
  7. Living with nuclear power plants at your border in: Euractiv 18. Januar 2022
  8. Quit EURATOM - PLAGE-video on YouTube
  9. Official website anti atom komitee
  10. Official website atomstopp_atomkraftfrei leben!