1.1.2 The roots of opposition to nuclear power

From the 1950s through to the early 1970s there was a rising tide of optimism that nuclear power would provide limitless cheap power. Opposition to the technology gathered momentum throughout the 1970s not as a result of accidents but, rather, as an offshoot of opposition to nuclear weapons and a more general disquiet over the unknown and unwanted consequences of society’s increasing reliance on technology. Rachel Carson’s polemic against agri-chemicals, Silent Spring (1962), and E. F. Schumacher’s rejection of advanced technology in Small is Beautiful (1973) were both important influences. The campaign against nuclear weapons led to a ban on atmospheric nuclear tests through the Partial Test Ban Treaty, although it failed to halt either the build-up in nuclear weapons by the nuclear powers or their proliferation to other states. The testing of a ‘peaceful’ nuclear bomb by India in May 1974 was especially worrying. India had extracted plutonium from uranium fuel irradiated in the CIRUS reactor, breaking an agreement previously made with Canada and the USA, who had supplied the reactor.10 In the later 1970s this led to a tightening of the IAEA’s non-proliferation regime.

In the field of civilian nuclear power, the number of NPPs under construction increased rapidly in the early 1970s (Fig. 1.1) — a consequence, no doubt, of the first oil crisis. This was a cause of concern to local activists and well-organised actions led to the cancellation of some nuclear projects. In California, for example, plans for NPPs at Bodega Bay, Malibu and Sundesert San Diego were cancelled (in 1964, 1970 and 1978 respectively). In Germany, the occupation of a proposed nuclear power plant site at Wyhl in 1975 led to the abandonment of the project and, it is sometimes claimed, the beginnings of a concerted anti-nuclear movement. In Austria a BWR was constructed at Zwentendorf (1968-1978) but was then prevented from operating by a referendum in November 1978. The following month a law was enacted forbidding the use of nuclear fission for energy production in the country. Austria’s anti-nuclear stance has continued in campaigns against nuclear power plants at Mochovce (1990-1999) in Slovakia and Temelin (1994-2000) in the Czech Republic.11