Kernkraftwerke

Nuclear power plants: possibly worth preserving as monuments?

Plea for a responsible treatment of witnesses of the atomic age

Nuclear power stations, especially their monumental cooling towers, are highly visible and iconic signs of modern industry. Between the 1960s and mid-1980s, five such industrial plants were built in Switzerland along the rivers Aare and Rhine. After the Mühleberg nuclear power plant was decommissioned, the four remaining plants now account for about one third of the country’s energy requirements. Currently, the nuclear power plant per se is again being intensely debated in Switzerland, as it is all over the world: the scenarios being re-negotiated in the face of climate changes and environmental crises are phase-out, phase-in again or shutdown.

The publication focuses on the specific building history and architecture of nuclear power plants and asks about their value as monuments and their chances of being conserved. For even in the case of total demolition, there is still the resulting contaminated waste, prompting a re-use and re-purposing of the existing structure. In addition, the book sheds light on the significance of this inconvenient legacy of building culture for the Swiss landscape and for national remembrance.