Attack on the meteorological mast of the Gösgen nuclear power plant
The attack on the meteo mast of the Gösgen nuclear power plant was an act of sabotage on November 3, 1979, during which the meteo mast of the Gösgen nuclear power plant ( Canton Solothurn , Switzerland ) was blown up. The mast crashed onto the substation and switchgear of the power plant; the result was a major power outage.
Background and process
In order to carry out meteorological control measurements before and during the start-up phase of the Gösgen nuclear power plant, there was a 110-meter-high steel mast for measuring devices outside the fenced-in system, but in the immediate vicinity of the 400 kV transformer system and busbars . In the night of November 3, 1979 at around 1.30 a.m., the anchoring of the steel mast was blown up, so that it fell onto the 400 kV distribution system and caused great damage there. As a result, the nuclear power plant had to be taken off the grid and shut down, and at the same time an important network node in Switzerland failed, which led to large-scale power outages. In the vast majority of cases, this power failure could be rectified after 45 minutes. No one was harmed, the damage to property amounted to one million francs.
A group called “Do-it-yourself group 007” claimed responsibility for the attack the next day. Shortly before, an attack on the information pavilion of the planned Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant and others on exponents of the electricity industry had been taken over by the same group. Swiss anarchists and eco-terrorists were often seen as the perpetrators in this context.
Nuclear power opponents distanced themselves from the attack, and a member of the “Nonviolent Action Graben” even used the word “terrorists” in a statement on Swiss radio.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Explosives attack against Gösgen nuclear power plant. High steel mast blown up at the NPP site . In: NZZ . November 5, 1979, p. 13.
- ↑ Notice on the power plant center near Bad Ragaz (PDF) . In: NZZ. December 27, 1979, p. 21.
- ↑ Ruedi Bärtschi: A nuclear power plant that was not built. The fight against the digging nuclear power plant. (PDF). In: Yearbook of the Oberaargau. Volume 51, 2008, p. 240.