25 Years ago
NIRS and WISE both celebrate their 25th anniversaries this year. This is the fourth article in a series, "25 years ago", comparing anti-nuclear news "then" and "now", to mark our first quarter-century of anti-nuclear campaigning.
Then
In issue 1 of WISE Bulletin we wrote about a big demonstration against the Lemoniz nuclear power plants in Basque Country (Spain): "Over 150,000 people - probably a record for a single anti-nuke demo - marched on March 12 [1978] against the construction of an atomic power plant at Lemoniz, in the Basque country (on the north coast of Spain). Five days later, the plant - which is nearing completion - was severely damaged by an explosion in the reactor core. ETA, the militant Basque independence movement, claimed responsibility. The dynamite has been smuggled into the plant in small quantities by site workers. Because the authorities ignored precise advance warnings about the explosion, two workers were killed and several wounded". (WISE Bulletin 1, May 1978)
Now
In its National Energy Plan of 1975, the Spanish government planned 35,000 MW of nuclear power by 1992 (between 35 and 70 reactors). These plans never became reality. In total 10 reactors have operated in Spain (of which one was shutdown in 1990) and in the 1984 National Energy Plan it was decided that no more than these 10 reactors would operate in Spain. A total of 7 planned reactors were cancelled (including the two reactors at Lemoniz).
The anti-nuclear movement was quite successful in the Basque Country and was supported by local city councils and all political parties. Its efforts concentrated on the Lemoniz reactors, some kilometers from the capital of Bilbao. ETA blew up hundreds of electric pylons connected to the site. In 1982, the construction at Lemoniz was halted although it had been stopped already due to sabotage work from ETA. (WISE News Communique 418, 16 September 1994 and 499/500, 16 October 1998)
WISE-Amsterdam/NIRS
ISSN: 0889-3411