What can teach us the Nuclear Power Plant Zwentendorf about sustainability? by

What can teach us the Nuclear Power Plant Zwentendorf about sustainability? by https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39 It is recommended to use the presentation mode (play button on the right control bar) to follow the information in the intended order. en-us 2023-08-02 13:03:36 UTC 2025-09-16 18:49:26 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/2029102965/d3e3809f01a22586af38886b8c33e7f3/P1070681.jpeg Concluding remarks veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654791569

The (un)sustainability of nuclear power: the recurrent changes in meaning of Zwentendorf in the context of historical events

Role of narratives in shaping socio-technical imaginaries -> What is considered a sustainable or desirable energy future?

The NPP Zwentendorf as a memorial of Austrian contemporary history can fuel, shape or direct discourses on sustainability

]]> 2023-08-02 13:06:13 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654791569 Movie trailer: Grand Central, 2014 (with Lea Seydoux) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654802131 2023-08-02 13:25:43 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654802131 Newspaper about Save the world awards, 2009 (in German) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654803152 2023-08-02 13:27:54 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654803152 Podcast about the history of Zwentendorf (in German) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654808155 2023-08-02 13:37:50 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2654808155 Song of protest movement: Schmetterlinge - Liebesgrüße aus Österreich veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655283770 Song "Love greetings from Austria" paying tribute to the protest movement

Now things have turned out quite differently
Who would have thought it
We have taken matters into our own hands
And put a spoke in their wheel

]]> 2023-08-03 06:41:43 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655283770 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655290409 2023-08-03 06:54:30 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655290409 Sustainability - Production of renewable energy? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655294342

The NPP delivers 100 % sustainable and environmentally friendly energy.

]]> 2023-08-03 07:03:48 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655294342 Sustainability - Role of civil society? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655305932 Successful protest movement
In 1975, a large wave of protests began in the Vorarlberg region of Austria and soon spread. The public debate became very emotional and the protests quickly gained momentum, leading to the government's decision to hold a referendum. On 6 November 1978, 50.4% voted against the construction of the plant. The Zwentendorf protest is considered the birth of the Austrian Green movement.]]> 2023-08-03 07:22:26 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655305932 ERIH website veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655400338 2023-08-03 09:49:56 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655400338 Nonument database veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655401081 2023-08-03 09:51:37 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655401081 Owner's website (EVN) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655401740 2023-08-03 09:52:47 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655401740 Zwentendorf as film location veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655402800 2023-08-03 09:55:35 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655402800 What happened? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655447430 Contemporary history has led to significant changes in the meaning of the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in the public perception and the political agenda.

1972 Start of construction
1975 Formation of larger anti-nucleat protest movement
1977 Construction completed, technical approval, first delivery of fuel rods
1978 Referendum (50,47% vote against the nuclear power plant to enter into operation)
1978 Law passed that prohibits the use of nuclear energy in Austria (Atomsperrgesetz)
1978-85 The NPP is preserved and kept ready for operation
1985 Slow beginning of liquidation, sales of parts and machines to same-type plants in Germany
1986 Chernobyl catastrophe ends hopes for reactivation of site
2005 EVN buys out remaining shares held by other energy companies and takes full ownership
2009 Start of solar power research project
2010 Opening the site to the wider public, offering weekly guided tours

]]> 2023-08-03 11:58:09 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655447430 Radioshow about site visit (in German) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655448616 2023-08-03 12:01:37 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655448616 Location for cultural use veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655612524

]]> 2023-08-03 17:24:10 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655612524 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655634973 2023-08-03 18:14:36 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655634973 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655635890 2023-08-03 18:16:49 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2655635890 Guided tours veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656017762 Possibility to enter the very core of the nuclear power plant

Free guided tours twice weekly open to the wider public, 120 minutes, max. 25 participants, fully booked months in advance, minimum age: 16 years, not accessible for disabled persons
Free guided tours for schools
Paid private guided tours bookable
Tour guides work on freelance basis, no permanent staff except 2 employees for maintenance

]]> 2023-08-04 09:08:58 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656017762 Sustainability - Absence of future burden? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656021426 Definition of sustainability by the Brundlandt commisssion (1987): "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

The question of storage of nuclear waste remains largely unsolved -> nuclear power production creates problems that need to be dealt with in the future ]]> 2023-08-04 09:19:23 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656021426 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656021570 Solar power generation

2009 Photovoltaic research project in collaboration with the Technical University, Vienna: Installation of 1000 solar panels
2012 Solar power generation as citizen participation model: Installation of 1300 solar panels

]]> 2023-08-04 09:19:55 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656021570 Training centre veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022135

For employees of foreign nuclear power plants (3 identical plants in Germany): dry training, emergencies, dismantling

For emergency services, firefighters, police units,…

International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA, headquartered in Vienna) holds annual workshops

]]> 2023-08-04 09:21:33 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022135 Sustainability - Energy efficiency? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022765 „Climate protectors are everyday heroes“]]> 2023-08-04 09:23:30 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022765 What does a sustainable energy future look like? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022833

low carbon?
supply security?
independent from energy and raw material imports?
affordable?
small-scale and bottom-up?
flexible?
...

]]> 2023-08-04 09:23:48 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656022833 Marketing film for nuclear power from the 1970s (in German) veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656476003 2023-08-05 13:51:44 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2656476003 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657455291 The Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky (social-democratic party) linked the outcome of the referendum to its political future because he expected it to secure a positive outcome of the referendum. The Austrian people’s party which was in favor of the NPP originally, then started to campaign against it. After the referendum, Kreisky did not resign despite the negative outcome. ]]> 2023-08-07 19:14:12 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657455291 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657455567 Ahead of the decommissioning of Germany's last nuclear power plant in 2023, pro-nuclear voices have become louder again in the context of high energy prices and pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the Paris Agreement.

Japan recently decided to restart its oldest NPP that hasn't been in operation since 2011.

]]> 2023-08-07 19:15:03 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657455567 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657473828 2023-08-07 19:55:35 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2657473828 Sustainability - Circular economy? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674643274 "The unresolved issue of very long-lived radioactive waste should, therefore, be a sufficient reason to make nuclear energy production incompatible with the DNSH principle and hence excluded from being listed as a sustainable activity." (p. 15)]]> 2023-08-28 04:18:13 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674643274 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674849908 Getting local communities to accept a geological repository for nuclear waste in their neighbourhood certainly remains a challenge, which entails in most (democratic) countries longstanding participatory processes with stakeholders with an uncertain outcome.]]> 2023-08-28 07:37:49 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674849908 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674851465 Nuclear energy now provides about 10% of the world's electricity from about 436 power reactors, of which there were 103 nuclear power reactors left in operation in 12 EU member states in 2023 (IAEA 2023 (accessed: 12.8.2023)).]]> 2023-08-28 07:39:44 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674851465 Sustainability - Decarbonisation? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674867571 The EU taxonomy from 2021 labels nuclear power generation as a bridging technology to attain the EU climate goals. ]]> 2023-08-28 07:58:09 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2674867571 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2675115556 2023-08-28 13:07:05 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2675115556 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2675118508 2023-08-28 13:09:33 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2675118508 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676424352 2023-08-29 08:56:05 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676424352 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676428092 Nuclear power plants, by contrast, look orderly, clean, and contained, emitting no airborne carbon. But their contribution to climate sustainability rests to some degree on an erasure of underlying human and social networks: the labor of uranium miners (Hecht 2014), the above-ground wastes stored at distributed sites, the contaminated topsoil bags from Fukushima, and the potential leaks between civilian and military uses of nuclear materials (Jasanoff and Kim 2009).

]]> 2023-08-29 09:00:47 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676428092 Sustainability - Security of supply? veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676436970 The public discourse on 'energy security' has recently gained momentum with the war in Ukraine and the sharp rise in oil and gas prices.

Similar to lignite, domestic nuclear power is experiencing a discur-sive revival since it could supposedly promote both energy indepen-dence and climate protection.

Wiertz et al. 2022, p.6

In terms of the impact of the war in Ukraine on national energy policies around the world, the renaissance of nuclear energy in some countries can be seen as a manifestation of energy policies aimed at 'national energy security' - as opposed to 'accelerating energy transition' (Żuk and Żuk, 2022).

The tour guide described how in the wake of the energy crisis, visitors repeatedly asked whether it was possible to switch on the nuclear power plant - before that, this was rather unusual according to its observations.

]]> 2023-08-29 09:12:16 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676436970 "The world's safest nuclear power plant" veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676470691 -> it never went into operation]]> 2023-08-29 09:52:14 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676470691 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676480848 In the ‘Summary for Policymakers’ of the ‘Fifth Assessment Report’, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also labels nuclear power as a “mature low-GHG emission source of baseload power” that “could make an increasing contribution to low-carbon energy supply”, provided that a “variety of barriers and risks” are overcome.

(IPCC WGIII 2014: 23)

]]> 2023-08-29 10:01:35 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676480848 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676501797 However important, ‘low carbon’ is but one attribute that power generation options should have in a sustainable energy future. The precise meaning of ‘sustainable energy future’ is contested, but the (non-)sustainability of energy options depends on their performance in delivering other policy objectives such as alleviating energy poverty, improving equity, reducing air pollution, enhancing energy security and securing economic wellbeing (Hugé et
al., 2011). (p.2)]]> 2023-08-29 10:27:24 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2676501797 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677254488 Sociotechnical visions are

“collectively held and communicable schemata that represent future objectives and express the means by which these objectives will be realised”

(Berkhout 2006: 302)

]]> 2023-08-29 21:07:46 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677254488 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677740233 2023-08-30 05:03:49 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677740233 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677777637 At the NPP Zwentendorf site sustainability is a recurring topic and also its history can be linked to different ideas of sustainability.

What sustainability narratives emerge from the NPP Zwentendorf case?]]> 2023-08-30 05:41:07 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677777637 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677780090 2023-08-30 05:43:55 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677780090 veronikadesch https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677925235 At this point, you can end presentation mode and scroll through the following sections that contain links to related scientific literature, further information and trivia.]]> 2023-08-30 07:58:40 UTC https://padlet.com/veronikadesch/bpxzi2wc9mckmw39/wish/2677925235