Zwentendorf nuclear power plant

By the late 1960s, nuclear power generation was all the rage and was genuinely seen as the way forward to satisfy the world's growing energy needs. The use of the technology was already firmly established in Western countries like the USA, Japan, Britain, Germany and, especially, France. So in the early 1970s, Austria no longer wanted to lag behind and intended to jump on the nuclear bandwagon too. 

  

The government actually planned to build four to six such atomic energy generating plants. The first one was to be that at Zwentendorf and it was commissioned in 1971, namely from a major German company (the big one beginning with S), which also built several plants of the same type within Germany. Construction began on the banks of the Danube in 1972. Its design was of the BWR (boiling water reactor) type and planned to yield an output of ca. 700 megawatts.

  

However, Zwentendorf was to remain the only nuclear power plant in Austria ever to be actually built to completion – but it was never switched on. How come? 

  

During the second half of the 1970s, the anti-nukes movement (and environmental awareness in general) was gaining strength and momentum, especially in neighbouring Germany. The often violent clashes between protesters and police regularly made the news. 

  

So mainly in order to sanction the project properly, the then Austrian government under chancellor Bruno Kreisky decided to hold a referendum about its future and that of Austrian nuclear involvement. The chancellor confidently predicted a "yes" vote in favour of Zwentendorf and even put his own political career on the line for this, saying he would resign if it didn't go through. But it didn't. Very, very narrowly. The referendum held on 5 November 1978 ended with a "no" vote by a whisker: 49.53% voted "yes", 50.47% voted "no" – so less than one single per cent, or a mere 23,000 votes, made the difference. 

  

The chancellor nevertheless did not stand by his word regarding his own career and did not resign, but the decision by the Austrian people (in the first referendum in Austria since WWII!), narrow as it had been, was fully honoured. What is more, it was not only the end of Zwentendorf, but the end of all Austrian ambitions in the atomic world (a ruling that even became part of the constitution). 

  

For a number of years, though, the plant was preserved and maintained in an operational state, at great expense, just in case public opinion should change again, i.e. from the point of view of the proponents: in case the people finally saw sense after all. But instead, support for nuclear energy was on the wane, especially in the wake of the Harrisburg accident in 1979 and eventually the disaster of Chernobyl in 1986, which for many was the final nail in the coffin for the whole nuclear energy idea.

  

The maintenance of Zwentendorf in such a state that it could potentially be activated had already ended shortly before Chernobyl, though. Mainly due to the high costs. All in all, Zwentendorf cost the country something in the region of a billion euros. All for nothing. 

  

You may well ask this obvious question: why the hell did they spend all that money and complete the building of the plant first and only then ask the people if they actually wanted it, rather than asking first and then start building ... or not (and save the money). But that does not take into account the rapidly changing political context of that time. In fact, had the referendum been held in 1970, it would quite likely have ended in a "yes" vote. Also: had there not been delays, the plant could have been finished in 1976 already, and then would probably have become operational without a referendum. 

  

So it was a combination of changing times and luck (bad luck on the part of the proponents, good luck for almost everybody else) that the story ended the way it did. Most Austrians are these days quite proud of themselves that "the Austrian people" prevented nuclear energy in their country and that this became a model for other countries. Without wanting to diminish that pride, it still remains the case that the story wasn't quite so simple and could easily have gone a completely different course.

  

Yet, Austria has indeed to be praised for its energy policies since 1978, in particular its resumed focus on hydroelectric power generation, which today covers most of the country's energy needs. In Austria it is even possible to subscribe to completely "green" energy supply packages without any fossil fuel or nuclear components. Very commendable! (But of course this is helped by Austria's Alpine territory ... and its mountains' glaciers feeding its water supplies, at least for as long as they remain ... cf. Pasterze and climate change).

  

But back to Zwentendorf. It had really been as close as it could have been. The fuel rods had already been delivered to the plant and were poised to be activated. Now they had to be removed again. But at least there had never been any test runs and hence no radiation released at all, so it was at least easy to deal with the now redundant plant (unlike a similar case in the USA, where a referendum also stopped the running of an already completed plant – but which due to test runs was irradiated so that subsequent dismantling costs made it one of the most expensive never used industrial sites ever).

  

As it had turned out that Zwentendorf had no future, hundreds of staff who had specifically been trained up for working at the plant, suddenly found themselves out of a job too, and with no prospect of a career that they had expected to see them through to their pensions. Instead they had to either retrain or move abroad. Some went on to work at Zwentendorf's sister plants in Germany, others ended up working in the conventional thermal power plant constructed nearby to compensate for the loss of Zwentendorf, or in other parts of the energy industry. 

 

After plans for possibly reactivating Zwentendorf were dropped in the mid-1980s, the site continued to be used by the industry nonetheless, namely as a source for spare parts and also as a training centre for staff at the equivalent plants in Germany. Zwentendorf presented a unique opportunity for training and testing procedures at a real site, but without the risks of radiation and hence no need for expensive security measures, protective suits and the like. There are still training sessions conducted in parts of the plant, but now that Germany has begun its process of phasing out nuclear power too, this will probably come to an end at some stage as well.

  

The new owners of the whole Zwentendorf site (since 2005), the Lower Austrian energy provider EVN, have begun to push new uses of the premises and to test and promote alternative energy sources, in particular solar power panels. It can thus truthfully be said that Zwentendorf has to be not only the safest but also the "greenest nuclear power station in the world!"

  

And from a point of view of (dark) tourism, the best news is that since 2009 even public guided tours of the inside of the plant have been made available! This makes it a truly unique attraction for the nuclear tourist! 

    

But you may already have seen images of the inside of Zwentendorf on the TV, in particular in the reporting following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011. Since the stricken reactors there were of a similar type to the one here at Zwentendorf, hundreds of TV and film crews from around the world suddenly began queueing up at the site and asked to film here. The management of Zwentendorf was inundated with such requests for many months. It was probably the busiest the site has ever been since its completion in the 1970s. How ironic!

  

You may also have seen movie scenes filmed on location at Zwentendorf, as the site has also served repeatedly as a film set, both for German ones (especially a TV production called "Restrisiko") and, astonishingly, for French ones too. The latest, "Grand Central" (by Rebecca Zlotowski, released in 2013), was even a love story set in/around a nuclear power plant (think metaphors like "radiating love" or "emotional meltdown").

  

Also somewhat ironically, the outdoor parts of the site have been used for music festivals – e.g. the Nuke Festival from 1999 to 2002 ... against the backdrop of the real hull of the nuke of Zwentendorf. 

  

But for the dark tourist, Zwentendorf is simply a unique opportunity to see a complete nuclear site from top to bottom, in more detail and closer up than would be possible anywhere else in the world. 

Access is by guided tour only, though, and you have to sign up for these well in advance (see below for details). I had been trying to get a place on such a tour for about two years without success. They were always booked up many months in advance, especially since Fukushima (see above). But on 2 November 2013 I finally got to see it, namely on a special weekend "Open Day" held to mark the anniversary of the referendum that sealed the fate for Zwentendorf in 1978. For that occasion, several tours spread out over the weekend were offered and so it was comparatively easy to snatch a place. 

  

As an extra bonus, a "nuclear jumble sale" ('AKW Flohmarkt') was also held, in which spare parts and other old "junk" from the plant were given away in return for donations to a cancer charity (how fitting!). 

  

So it was an unusually busy day, with almost a party atmosphere. They even set up a room in which drinks and snacks were given away for free (alas, only sausages, so nothing suitable for vegetarians – typically Austrian). All manner of information and PR material was laid out for free too. And in a large room in the former visitor centre an introductory film from the 1970s was shown as well. This documentary chronicling the construction of the plant had been made before the referendum, though, and hence ended with the very wrong prediction that Zwentendorf would lift Austria into the Atomic Age ... famous last words ...

  

The following will describe the tour as I experienced it. The regular tours will most likely be very similar, even if the order of things shown may vary. The group sizes are always capped at 25 participants, and given that they are always booked up, that will be the number of people to be expected on any tour (unless you request a private one). 

  

The tour began with an introductory talk inside the plant and then passes the inner security checkpoints and gates and the former changing rooms. Typical plant suits, including yellow (!) underwear were hanging from pegs for display too here. 

  

The first highlight then was the old control centre. It has the familiar look of a spaceship bridge in sci-fi films of the 60s or 70s. Indeed, seeing all that electronic technology of the late 1970s can even be funny or endearing, e.g. all those analogue meters, the telephones with circular dial plates or the old computers with floppy disk or even more "ancient exotic" memory media. On the tour, a technician, clad in the period plant suit and wearing a helmet, explained to the group the basic workings of the control centre. But I found it hard to concentrate on the narrative, too distracting is the close encounter with all this mesmerizing vintage technology (especially from a photography point of view!).

  

Next we were led to the control rod insertion mechanism – i.e. directly under the reactor core! (Incidentally: that was another potential weakness of the Zwentendorf design if there had ever been a serious accident ... in other designs the control rods are inserted from the top so that  gravity could be utilized as a backup component in case things went wrong, whereas at Zwentendorf gravity would have been a counterforce). 

  

Many of the control rod inlets are exposed, only a few still have their electric motors for moving them in and out. Surrounding the control rod mechanism you can spot all manner of technology whose exact purpose largely remains a mystery to the non-expert – but that does not make them any less photogenic. 

  

Some of the cable contacts hanging from the ceiling/walls have been protected by plastic bags and cotton balls to protect them from moisture that could cause corrosion. These are subtle indications that you are actually in a "museum" of sorts ... A much more obvious one is the very fact that you can stand here without wearing radiation-proof suits. That alone makes for a truly eerie atmosphere.

  

Most impressive, apart from the control rod block itself, however, I found those access hatches – heavy round steel doors that look like oversized submarine hatches. It is here that the whole experience is at its most science fiction-like!

  

The next stop on the tour required taking a lift to the very top part of the plant building: to the main reactor hall. It's a huge cavern, brightly neon-lit and at its heart are the fuel-rod changing mechanism and the spent-fuel cooling pool. You can climb onto the fuel-rod changing apparatus (called a "Katze", i.e. 'cat'). From here you can look straight down into the top of the reactor core.  

  

The core is fully exposed, i.e. there is no water in the basin above it, nor in the spent-fuel holding basin next to it. Normally, water would have contained the radiation (which in turn would have given the water its typical eerie bluish hue). Of course, at Zwentendorf there are no real fuel rods in the core, so no water is required. That in turn allows a full, unobstructed and non-refracted clear view down into the reactor. Another totally unique highlight of the Zwentendorf site!  

  

Next to the reactor basins, the lid that would normally have been placed on top of the reactor core during operation has been put on supports for display, high enough so that you can walk under it. It's a strange feeling standing under this massive contraption, knowing that it weighs a whopping 60 tons.

  

Various components of the reactor are on display here too, including control rods as well as fuel rods, both complete and half opened to show the actual uranium rods inside the bundles. Another technician was on hand to explain how it all worked ... or would have worked, had the plant ever been used for real.  

  

A couple of floors down the staircase then took the group to a section by the upper portion of the primary containment vessel. That's the steel hull around the whole reactor pressure vessel and the associated technology. This floor is directly under the portion with the opening at the top in the reactor hall where the fuel rods would be inserted and changed when spent. At this level the steam and water flow would be controlled. 

  

A round service access hatch in the primary containment vessel now stands permanently open, so you can peek inside. 

  

From a small balcony on the opposite wall you can see down into the turbine hall. 

 

Actually going down there was not part of the tour that I was on. And it wasn't clear if it's ever part of the public tours or whether access to the turbines is for officials and training staff only. But I didn't mind so much that we couldn't get close to the turbines. That part is not unique to nuclear power stations but rather a common feature of all electricity generation through steam turbines. So it is somewhat less exciting anyway.

  

Another top highlight followed, however, namely at a lower level of the primary containment vessel, where an access hole has been cut into its hull so that you can step straight into the condenser section inside. Nowhere else in the world would that even be physically possible. Normally this is a self-contained, water-filled part of the system. But without the water and the hole cut into the casing, you can just walk inside. 

  

What you get to see there is possibly the strangest part of the entire tour: black tubes hang from the ceiling – which itself is invisible in the dark gloom. Some end in shiny steel condensers, which themselves look strangely other-worldly. This is really like being on a film set for another instalment of "Alien" or an episode of "Doctor Who" or some such science fiction. Totally mesmerizing. 

  

And that was basically it. After this the group is walked back past the inner main security checkpoint, where you return your helmets (if you'd chosen to wear one – which at least for people of my height is advisable or else you'll bang your head on some of the narrow access hatches). 

  

Back outside the plant, there is not that much more to see. There are a couple of rusting transformers and the beginning of the power lines that would have taken electricity generated at the plant into the national grid but which these days remain silent and idle.

  

So back through the outer gate and to the car park it will be from here – except when you're on one of those Open Days, when you could also go back to the "nuclear jumble sale" inside a service part of the reactor building.  

  

Incidentally, if you come here without being signed up for a tour there's not much to see. There is a set of info panels outlining the history of the plant and its present and future uses. And a large-scale LED display presents the figure for the electricity generated by the solar panels on and next to the old plant.  

  

But from the outside this is not an especially dark site at all. The plant building is of a rather plain design. If you're expecting the typical monstrous cooling towers, you'll be disappointed. Zwentendorf never had any (not necessary for this type of reactor design), only a sleek concrete chimney. 

  

On the banks of the River Danube you can see the water inlets and outlets for the plant's water needs, but they are hardly spectacular to look at either. No, to really get what sets Zwentendorf so apart from any other nuclear site, you have to go on one of these guided tours of the interior. 

  

The downside is, these tours are regularly only offered in German. Still, even if you don't know (much) German it's still worth going (there were several non-German speakers on my tour and they seemed pretty much as thrilled with it as the rest of us). Some of the guides will speak English to a degree so you can ask questions, but the actual commentary and the technical explanations will all be in German only.   

  

To sum up: Zwentendorf is totally unique, and hence for anyone with at least a passing interest in anything nuclear it is an absolute must-see. But you'd have to plan very well ahead and book a tour in advance as soon as you can, and be prepared to wait. But if you can get on a tour I promise you it's a totally incredible one-off experience like no other anywhere on Earth. Absolutely outstanding!

  

48°21'16.6"N 15°53'06.7"E

    

In addition to the regular tours, there have also been Open Days in some years, namely to mark the anniversaries of the referendum that ended nuclear power in Austria. So they typically take place in early November (I went on 2 Nov 2013). On those days dozens of tours are offered during a whole weekend, which gives those interested a lot more convenience, choice and a much better chance of getting a place on one of these tours. But you still have to sign up in advance.   

    

There will probably be more Open Days in the years to come – you can follow what's going on by monitoring the Zwentendorf plant's own website (zwentendorf.com) or, if you can read German, it's best to sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date automatically.