No more nuclear power plants

Never Again Atomic Power Plants (NWA) is an association from Switzerland that has been against the use of nuclear power since 1970 . NWA aims to fully supply Switzerland with renewable energies , consistent energy efficiency and intelligent energy saving . NWA conducts public relations, carries out political campaigns and is nationally and internationally networked.

history

Resistance to the construction of the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant

The association of Northwestern Switzerland was originally called the Action Committee against the Kaiseraugst Nuclear Power Plant (NAK), which was formed in May 1970 on the occasion of Motor-Columbus' request to the Aargau government to grant it a concession to draw cooling water from the Rhine . Thus, for the first time, there was an organized opposition to the construction of nuclear power plants initiated in Switzerland in 1964 , initially directed against river water cooling , and from 1971 against cooling towers .

First name change and occupation of the site of the planned Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant

The dispute about the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant project, as well as nuclear energy in general, became increasingly fundamental. In 1974, the NAK renamed itself the Northwestern Switzerland Action Committee against Nuclear Power Plants (NWA). The NWA then successfully initiated the occupation against the construction of the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant in 1975, which was ultimately never completed - albeit for various reasons.

Basel nuclear protection laws

At the end of the 1970s, the NWA achieved the introduction of so-called nuclear protection laws in the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land , which oblige these cantons not to tolerate the construction of nuclear power plants, nuclear processing plants or nuclear storage sites on their territory or in the vicinity , nor - in the Case of the Canton of Basel-Stadt - to participate financially in companies that produce nuclear power .

Federal popular initiative "Stop building nuclear power plants (moratorium)"

A popular initiative submitted by the NWA in 1987 - one year after the Chernobyl disaster - and approved by 54.5% of the Swiss population on September 23, 1990 resulted in a ten-year national moratorium on nuclear power plant construction.

Second name change and petition "Cover off"

In 2008 the name of the association was changed to Never again nuclear power plants . In 2009, NWA launched the petition "Cover off" to the National Council and Council of States, which was submitted with 28,378 signatures and made a significant contribution to the expansion of the cost-covering feed-in tariff (KEV).

Recent Activity

The prevention of the construction of new nuclear power plants planned by the Swiss electricity company Atel (now Alpiq Holding ), among others , and Switzerland's withdrawal from nuclear energy are currently on the political agenda of the association. In addition, NWA calls for the closure of the nuclear power plants currently in operation in Switzerland, such as the Mühleberg nuclear power plant , but also the French nuclear power plant in Fessenheim near the border . On Easter Monday 2011, shortly after the nuclear accident in Fukushima , the NWA mobilized around 2000 participants in a demonstration against the Fessenheim nuclear power plant.

organization

NWA is active throughout Switzerland and currently has four sections:

NWA 55 plus
NWA Aargau
NWA Basel region
NWA Solothurn

The former regional group NWA Bern was dissolved on May 15, 2017.

The Co-Presidium currently consists of Andreas Fischer (Grand Councilor Green Aargau) and Désirée Jaun (District Administrator SP Basel-Landschaft). The vice-presidency is shared by the former SP National Councilor Rudolf Rechsteiner , the Green Councilor of States Maya Graf and Jan Schudel. In May 2019 Peter Stutz took over the management. Other board members include National Councilor Florence Brenzikofer and Councilors Harald Friedl and Jürg Stöcklin from the Green Party , Councilor Alexandra Dill from the Social Democrats and former District Administrator Annemarie Spinnler and former District Administrator Christine Gorrengourt from the CVP.

Aernschd Born was managing director until the end of 2014 , then Véronique Andreoli for a short time, then Christoph Arndt from 2016–2019. The former National Councilor Rudolf Rechsteiner presided over the association under its old name from 1991 to 2008. Across Switzerland, the association has around 1500 members.

NWA is a member of the No to New Nuclear Power Alliance .