Referendum in Austria on the commissioning of the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant

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The Zwentendorf nuclear power plant

On November 5, 1978, a referendum took place in Austria on the commissioning of the already completed Zwentendorf nuclear power plant . With a turnout of 64.1%, 50.5% of those who voted voted against the commissioning. It was the first nationwide referendum of the Second Republic.

prehistory

Anti-nuclear movement logo

After the decision to build a nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf an der Donau in 1969 by the then ÖVP sole government Klaus II , and started in 1972 under the SPÖ sole government Kreisky II , a broad anti-nuclear movement developed in Austria from 1975 onwards . At the end of 1977 the ÖVP, which fundamentally advocated the use of nuclear energy, also took a position against the Zwentendorf power plant. In this situation, the SPÖ party executive decided that this question should be subjected to a referendum, something opponents of nuclear power had been calling for for a long time. On June 28, 1978 a law on the peaceful use of atomic energy was passed in the National Council in a roll call with the votes of the SPÖ and against the votes of the ÖVP and FPÖ , and then unanimously decided to hold a referendum. The Federal Council raised an objection against this legislative resolution on July 6th with the votes of the ÖVP, which was overturned by the National Council on July 7th by means of a persistent resolution . The referendum was ordered by Federal President Kirchschläger on September 13th, and the federal government set November 5th 1978 as the day of the vote. In the election campaign before the vote, the SPÖ and the social partners spoke out in favor of commissioning, while anti-nuclear groups advertised a “no” in the vote and warned about the risks of nuclear power. The ÖVP also campaigned for a “No” to Zwentendorf, but was positive about nuclear power itself. The FPÖ, which in the 1960s was still in favor of building nuclear power plants, spoke out completely against the use of nuclear energy. Federal Chancellor Kreisky announced that in the event of a “no” he would resign.

Vote and result

Official ballot for the referendum

The voting question, which had to be answered with "Yes" or "No", was as follows:

"Should the legislative resolution of the National Council of 7 July 1978 on the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Austria (commissioning of the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant) become law?"

The vote took place on November 5, 1978. The resolution was rejected with a majority of 1,606,777 to 1,576,709 of the 3,183,486 valid votes. The proportion of “no” votes was 50.47%. The number of invalid votes was 75,996, which corresponds to 2.3% of the votes cast. The turnout of 64.1% was very low compared to previous National Council elections. All Austrian citizens who had reached the age of 19 on January 1st, 1978 were entitled to vote. The result was announced by the Federal Chancellor on December 28th in the Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria .

Results in the federal states

In the federal states of Burgenland , Carinthia , Lower Austria , Styria and Vienna , “Yes” had the majority, the “Yes” share was highest in Burgenland at 59.8%. In the federal states of Upper Austria , Salzburg , Tyrol and Vorarlberg , the majority of voters voted “No”, with the “No” share in Vorarlberg being the highest at 84.4%. The high level of rejection in Vorarlberg can be explained by the resistance to the planned Rüthi nuclear power plant in Switzerland, which is why the SPÖ in Vorarlberg , in contrast to the federal party, called for a "No" to Zwentendorf.

state electoral
legitimate 		Valid
votes 		Yes votes Yes votes
in% 		Vote no No votes
in%
Burgenland 187.879 124.384 74,377 59.8 50.007 40.2
Carinthia 355.219 217.911 117,481 54.1 100,070 45.9
Lower Austria 964.048 672.154 341.831 50.8 330.323 49.2
Upper Austria 809.904 537.965 254,337 47.3 282,628 52.3
Salzburg 277.141 165,523 71,576 43.2 93,947 56.8
Styria 793.746 452.423 238.851 52.8 213,572 47.2
Tyrol 355.164 156.160 53,357 34.2 102,803 65.8
Vorarlberg 169.065 126,779 19,731 15.6 107.048 84.4
Vienna 1,171,613 730.187 404.808 55.4 325.379 44.6
total 5,083,779 3,183,486 1,576,709 49.5 1,606,777 50.5

consequences

On December 15, 1978, the National Council unanimously passed the Atomic Ban Act , which banned the construction of nuclear power plants and the commissioning of existing plants in Austria. In 1985, the SPÖ Federal Chancellor Sinowatz sought to commission the Zwentendorf power plant. To this end, a further referendum should be held, with the positive outcome of which the atomic prohibition law would have fallen. The coalition partner FPÖ did not support this project, which is why Sinowatz tried to get the ÖVP to agree. On March 21st, the National Council voted on an SPÖ initiative motion that contained a federal constitutional law on a new referendum. In a roll-call vote, the motion achieved 91 “yes” - to 90 “no” votes, not the two-thirds majority required for constitutional law. The governing parties SPÖ and FPÖ did not require their MPs to have a club . After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, Austria's rejection of nuclear power developed into a political consensus. In 1999 the National Council unanimously elevated the Nuclear Lockdown Act to constitutional status as a federal constitutional law for a nuclear-free Austria .

Federal Chancellor Kreisky did not resign after the referendum, his SPÖ again achieved an absolute majority in the 1979 National Council election. He remained Federal Chancellor until the loss of the absolute majority in the 1983 election .

Together with the occupation of the Hainburger Au in 1984, the Zwentendorf vote marks the birth of the Green movement in Austria and a turning point in Austrian democratic awareness. These events also contributed significantly to the establishment of environmental protection in Austrian society and politics.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stenographic minutes: 97th session of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XIV. Legislative period; Wednesday June 28 and Thursday June 29, 1978; Vienna; P. 9559 ff. (PDF; 14.3 MB)
  2. ↑ Stenographic minutes: 97th session of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XIV. Legislative period; Wednesday June 28 and Thursday June 29, 1978; Vienna; P. 9561 (PDF; 14.3 MB)
  3. ^ Stenographic minutes: 378th meeting of the Federal Council of the Republic of Austria ; Thursday, July 6th and Friday, July 7th, 1978; Vienna; P. 12964 (PDF; 10.3 MB)
  4. ↑ Stenographic minutes: 101st session of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XIV. Legislative period; Friday July 7, 1978; Vienna; P. 9952 (PDF; 5.57 MB)
  5. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 493/1978
  6. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 628/1978
  7. ^ Shorthand protocol: 116th session of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XIV. Legislative period; Friday December 15 and Saturday December 16, 1978; Vienna; P. 11735 (PDF; 7.15 MB)
  8. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 676/1978
  9. ^ Stenographic minutes: 85th session of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XVI. Legislative period; Thursday March 21, 1985; Vienna; P. 7652 (PDF; 11.9 MB)
  10. ^ Stenographic minutes: 176th meeting of the National Council of the Republic of Austria , XX. Legislative period; Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th July 1999; Vienna; P. 57 (PDF; 1.76 MB)
  11. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 149/1999