The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first nuclear plant built in Austria, of 6 nuclear plants originally envisaged. The plant at Zwentendorf

Zwentendorf

Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in Lower Austria, Austria, with 3,280 inhabitants. It is located at , in the Tullnerfeld on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained celebrity as the site of the only Austrian nuclear power station, which was established here, but...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 was finished, but never operated. Start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, as well as construction of the other 5 plants, was prevented by a referendum

Austrian nuclear power referendum, 1978

A referendum on the use of nuclear power was held in Austria on 5 November 1978. Voters were asked whether they approved of a law allowing the peaceful use of nuclear power, particularly relating to the start-up of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant. Voters narrowly rejected it, with 50.5% voting...

 on 5 November 1978. A narrow majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.

Construction of the plant began in April 1972, as a boiling-water reactor

Boiling water reactor

The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...

 rated at 692 megawatts electric power output. It was built by a joint venture of several Austrian electric power utilities, and was envisioned as the first of several nuclear power plants to be built. The initial cost of the plant was around 14 billions Austrian schillings, about 1 billion Euros today. The ventilation stack chimney of the plant is 110 metres tall. The plant has been partly dismantled. Since 1978 Austria has a law prohibiting fission reactors for electrical power generation.

The plant is now owned by Austrian energy company EVN Group

EVN Group

EVN Group is an Austrian-based producer and transporter of electricity, one of the largest in Europe having over three million customers in 14 countries. The company also operates in water treatment, natural gas supply and waste management business areas...

 and used as Solar Power Plant

Photovoltaics

Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...

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The Dürnrohr Power Station

Dürnrohr Power Station

The Dürnrohr power station is a thermal power station in Lower Austria.The power station was built as a replacement for the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Station, a plant that was finished but due to a 1978 referendum never started up. The Dürnrohr plant was built in its proximity in order to use the...

 was built nearby as a replacement thermal power station

Thermal power station

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this...

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