Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant

The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant

The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first commercial nuclear plant for electric power generation built in Austria, of 3 nuclear plants originally envisioned. Construction of the plant at Zwentendorf, Austria was finished but the plant never entered service. The start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, as well as the construction of the other 2 plants, was prevented by a referendum on 5 November 1978, in which a narrow majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.^[1]^[2]

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 companies. The initial cost of the plant was around 5.2 billion Austrian schilling, approximately 1.4 billion Euro adjusted for inflation.^[3] The ventilation stack chimney of the plant is 110 metres tall. Since the plebiscite, the plant has been partially deconstructed. The Dürnrohr Power Station was built nearby as a replacement thermal power station.

Following the 1978 referendum, no commercial nuclear power plant (built for the purpose of producing electricity) ever went into operation in Austria. In 1978, Austria enacted a law prohibiting the construction and operation of fission reactors for electrical power generation, hence the plant nowadays is used for research purposes. Three small nuclear reactors for scientific purposes were built in the 1960s, and only one of these plants are still being operated.^[4]

Current use[]

The plant was bought by the Austrian energy company EVN Group in 2005 who established a security training centre there,^[5] and who rents out the power plant for filming, photography and other events.^[6]

A Solar Power Plant has been constructed on the premises, which went into operation on June 25, 2009. After completion, 1000 solar panels on the site provided approximately 180 MWh of electricity per year. In comparison, the nuclear power plant could theoretically have produced up to 5,455,728 MWh of electricity per year (assuming a 90% capacity factor).

In association with the Technical University Vienna, a research center (the Photovoltaik-Forschungszentrum Zwentendorf) was founded at the site. The research center is equipped with a 190 kW photovoltaic system consisting of two modules with solar tracking assemblies.

The plant is used for operator training by Kraftwerksschule e.V. The current operator of the plant also allows visits to the complex.

Use in film[]

The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant has been leased out over the years as a film location for films including Grand Central, , and ^[7]

Gallery[]

The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant during the Save the World Awards in 2009
Control rod mechanism on the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant
View into the reactor pressure vessel
Low pressure turbines
Control panel in the control room of the Plant