In the 1960s the Austrian government started a nuclear-energy program and parliament unanimously ordered a nuclear power-plant built. In 1972, the German company KWU began construction of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant boiling-water 700 MWe reactor. In 1976, two years prior to the nuclear power-plant opening, the government began a program to educate its citizens on the benefits and safety of nuclear power. However, this campaign began a public discussion that led to large demonstrations against the Zwentendorf plant in 1977.[1]
On 15 December 1978, the Austrian Parliament voted in favor of a ban (BGBI. No. 676) on using nuclear fission for Austria’s energy supply until March 1998. This law also prohibits the storage and transport of nuclear materials in or through Austria.[2] Nuclear energy continued to be debated in Austria, with some politicians seeking to reverse the nuclear-energy ban. However, after the 1986 Chernobyl accident, attempts to reverse the ban subsided.[3] On 9 July 1997, the Austrian Parliament unanimously passed legislation to remain an anti-nuclear country.[4]
In 2012, Austria called on Europe to abandon nuclear power.[5] Austria has particularly sought to pressure the Czech Republic to dismantle the Temelin nuclear power-plant near the Austrian border. The Czech Republic has defended the nuclear power-plant as safe and better than alternatives such as dependence on coal, gas, and oil.
In 2022, Austria filed a legal challenge to prevent the European Union from including nuclear energy as a category of green investment.[6] Leonore Gewessler, Austria's Federal Minister for Climate Protection, said it was "greenwashing".[7] Defenders of the categorization see nuclear energy, which produces low carbon-emissions relative to many energy sources, as key to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.[8]