The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first nuclear plant built in Austria, of 6 nuclear plants originally envisaged. The plant at Zwentendorf, Austria was finished, but never operated. Start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, as well as construction of the other 5 plants, was prevented by a referendum on 5 November 1978. A narrow majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.
Construction of the plant began in April 1972, as a boiling-water reactor rated at 692 megawatts electric power output. It was built by a joint venture of several Austrian electric power utilities, and was envisioned as the first of several nuclear power plants to be built. The initial cost of the plant was around 14 billions Austrian schillings, about 1 billion Euros today. The ventilation stack chimney of the plant is 110 metres tall. The plant has been partly dismantled. Since 1978 Austria has a law prohibiting fission reactors for electrical power generation.
The plant is now owned by Austrian energy company EVN Group and used as Solar Power Plant and for education purposes.
The Dürnrohr Power Station was built nearby as a replacement thermal power station.
Following the 1978 referendum, no nuclear power plant that was built for the purpose of producing electricity ever went into operation in Austria. However, three small nuclear reactors for scientific purposes have been built and used since the 1960s, with one still being in operation.
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Controlrod mechanism on the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant
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View into the reactor pressure vessel
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Low pressure turbines
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Control panel in the control room of the Plant
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