Demonstrators displaying banners against the construction of the nuclear power plant in Kaiseraugst, September 1984.
Demonstrators displaying banners against the construction of the nuclear power plant in Kaiseraugst, September 1984. Swiss National Museum / ASL

Opposi­ti­on to Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant

A broad cross-section of society came out in unity against the construction of Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant. The burgeoning anti-nuclear movement benefited from a high degree of media resonance.

Sara Sigrist

Sara Sigrist

Sara Sigrist is a historian. She studied contemporary history and social science at the University of Zurich.

The opposition to plans for a nuclear power plant at Kaiseraugst in the canton of Aargau goes back to the 1960s. Baden-based energy provider Motor-Columbus had originally planned to build a thermal power station in Kaiseraugst. However, once the decision had been made to power the plant with nuclear energy instead of oil, an opposition movement comprising a broad cross-section of society emerged. The resistance even extended beyond the locality to Alsace and Baden-Württemberg.

The association known as “Nordwestschweizer Aktionskomitee gegen das Atomkraftwerk Kaiseraugst” NAK, later renamed “Nordwestschweizer Aktionskomitee gegen Atomkraftwerke” NWA, which translates as North-Western Switzerland Action Committee against Nuclear Power Plants, was founded in 1970. This organisation had the potential to form a significant lobby and aimed to unite the fragmented anti-nuclear campaigners. The association initially exhausted all the political and legal avenues open to it. These included complaints, objections, initiatives, interpellations, motions and public information events. A majority of Kaiseraugst’s voters also rejected the project in a popular consultation held on 15 June 1972. As a last resort, the NWA plus the local authorities of Basel, Kaiseraugst and Rheinfelden appealed to the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne, which ruled against them on 26 July 1973. The court based its ruling on the Atomic Energy Act of 1959, which allocated authority for the granting of operating licences for nuclear power plants primarily to federal government bodies.

The frosty December 1973 sit-in

The Federal Supreme Court setback and exhaustion of all legal avenues available to the opposition placed the anti-nuclear movement in a quandary, as its muscle and staying power were called into question. In December 1973, a group of young socialists and environmental and peace activists came together to form “Gewaltfreie Aktion Kaiseraugst” GAK (Kaiseraugst peaceful protest) with the aim of preventing the construction of the nuclear plant.
Gewaltfreie Aktion Kaiseraugst transfer print.
u003cemu003eGewaltfreie Aktion Kaiseraugstu003c/emu003e transfer print. Swiss Social Archives
The GAK held an initial symbolic sit-in between Christmas and New Year in bitterly cold winter weather. About 12 activists gathered at the site. They sat on bales of straw and put up placards and banners. The demonstrators talked with passers-by about the dangers of nuclear energy. Their aim was to bring their protest to the attention of the public at large. Lausanne press photo agency ASL documented the sit-in and reported on the solidarity shown by the local residents.
Activists putting up placards at the proposed construction site in December 1973.
Activists putting up placards at the proposed construction site in December 1973. Swiss National Museum / ASL
Protestors sitting on bales of hay and keeping warm by the fire.
Protestors sitting on bales of hay and keeping warm by the fire. Swiss National Museum / ASL

Every day dozens of sympathisers come out in support of the protestors, bringing them snacks and drinks.

Report by ASL press photo agency

The eleven-week occupation of the site in 1975

The GAK members finally responded to the first excavation works by occupying the site on 1 April 1975. Access roads were blocked with vehicles or, to quote the lyrics of songwriter Aernschd Born’s ballad:

“Si sin vor d Laschtwäge ghoggt und hän zältlet dört us
S het zwor Pflutter gha, Räge und Schnee
Doch Buure hän Holz brocht und jede Dag Milch
Und ko bsetze sin immer meh

Es sin hunderti ko, s het e Dorf gä dört us
In dr ganze Region hän is Lyt unterschtützt
Und jetz müen d Behörde verhandle mit uns
Me gseht, was mer gmacht hän het gnützt
Bis jetz.”

Or, in English:

They stayed in front of the lorries and camped out there / It was muddy, rainy and snowy / But the farmers brought them wood and milk every day / And people kept coming / Hundreds came and the camp slowly turned into a village / People throughout the region supported them / And now the authorities must talk with us / It’s evident our actions are bearing fruit / For the time being.
Aernschd Born, “d Ballade vo Kaiseraugscht” YouTube
The activists called for, among other things, the immediate cessation of construction work on nuclear power plants and a democratic right to be consulted for people living in the vicinity of prospective power plant sites. The GAK depended on the broad support of the public to sustain the protest, and the movement’s commitment to non-violent resistance helped a lot in that regard. There were two mass rallies during the occupation. On the first Sunday, about 16,000 people convened at the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant site.
The occupation of the planned nuclear site at Kaiseraugst in the canton of Aargau began in the early hours of 1 April 1975.
The occupation of the planned nuclear site at Kaiseraugst in the canton of Aargau began in the early hours of 1 April 1975. Swiss National Museum / ASL
Activists kept coming to the occupied site.
Activists kept coming to the occupied site. Swiss National Museum / ASL
The number of sympathisers exceeded the GAK committee’s expectations and added an air of legitimacy to their civil disobedience. The protest gained popularity among a broad section of the population from all sorts of political persuasions. On 26 April 1975, there was a national mobilisation of the anti-nuclear movement at the Bundesplatz in Bern in solidarity with the Aargau occupiers.
Call to demonstrate in Bern on 26 April 1975.
Call to demonstrate in Bern on 26 April 1975. Swiss National Museum
The Kaiseraugst protest returned the topic of nuclear energy to the top of the national agenda and garnered major media attention. The trigger was the lively exchange between the occupiers and the press. The media coverage generated publicity for the activists, which in turn made the public more attentive to the press coverage of the protests. So, the keen media interest in the anti-nuclear lobby actually contributed to its success.
“CH-Magazin” from 25 April 1975 on the occupation of the Kaiseraugst site. YouTube / SRF Archiv

The protests during the 1980s that led to the abandonment of the project

On 14 June 1975, after eleven weeks, the occupiers finally left the construction site of their own accord. A plenary meeting of the anti-nuclear protestors had voted almost unanimously in favour of vacating the site, with 3,500 votes in favour. In return, the Federal Council and the backers of Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant agreed to enter into negotiations and put the construction work on ice for the time being.
The occupiers left the site as they had found it in April 1975.
The occupiers left the site as they had found it in April 1975. Swiss National Museum / ASL
Activists cleaning up after themselves in the occupier camp.
Activists cleaning up after themselves in the occupier camp. Swiss National Museum / ASL
However, the talks failed to bring the two sides any closer to an understanding. Once negotiations had broken down, Motor-Columbus could have gone ahead with the excavation work in Kaiseraugst. However, the project encountered political and economic headwinds.

The occupation of the site in 1975 and subsequent protests raised public awareness of the dangers of nuclear energy and the pressing need to conduct a revision of the Atomic Energy Act. The anti-nuclear lobby initiated cantonal and national votes calling for such a revision, which then took place in 1979. According to the federal decree accepted by the people, the construction of nuclear power plants became contingent on, among other things, a general licence and proof of need.

 

 
Transfer print for the anti-nuclear initiative.
Transfer print for the anti-nuclear initiative. Swiss Social Archives
A general licence to build a nuclear power plant at Kaiseraugst was granted on 28 October 1981, which provoked further protests from the anti-nuclear camp. And these were successful, as the project didn’t happen in the end. In 1988, the federal government came to an agreement with the owners of Kernkraftwerk Kaiseraugst AG not to proceed with the project. A federal decree to that effect was passed by the federal parliament in March 1989. So, a fourteen-year saga that started with the occupation of the site in the canton of Aargau ultimately led to the abandonment of the plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaiseraugst.
The anti-nuclear lobby demonstrating against the granting of planning permission for the nuclear power plant in 1981.
The anti-nuclear lobby demonstrating against the granting of planning permission for the nuclear power plant in 1981. Swiss National Museum / ASL
Activists taking a stand on the Kaiseraugst site.
Activists taking a stand on the Kaiseraugst site. Swiss National Museum / ASL
Looking back, a number of factors contributed to the project’s demise. The widespread resistance and mobilisation of the people in the northwest of Switzerland brought considerable political pressure to bear. The exchange with the media and resulting media echo also amplified the efforts of the anti-nuclear lobby. In addition, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 discredited the project. All these factors, the postponement of the construction work plus technical and economic considerations, ultimately sealed the project’s doom. In fact, it would almost be fair to say that the project was destined to fail before it even began.

At the same time, the persistent opposition to the planned nuclear power plant at Kaiseraugst did not signal the end of nuclear energy in Switzerland. Nuclear power plants were connected to the grid at Gösgen and Leibstadt in 1979 and 1984 respectively. Nevertheless, the occupation and protests at the Kaiseraugst site did lead to the establishment of a national anti-nuclear movement. This movement is still relevant in Switzerland in view of the current debate on the security of the electricity supply.

Actualités Suisses Lausanne

Some of the photographs displayed are from press picture agency Actualités Suisses Lausanne (ASL). This agency, based in French-speaking Switzerland, was founded in 1954 by Roland Schlaefli and Edouard Baumgartner. ASL specialised in sports photos as well as political subjects. Schlaefli was an accredited Federal Palace photographer until the agency’s closure. Prior to that, Schlaefli had worked at another press picture agency, Presse Diffusion Lausanne (PDL), which was acquired by ASL in 1974. ASL folded at the turn of the millennium, after which the Swiss National Museum took over the agency’s photo archives.

Published on: 05.03.2024

Modified on: 07.10.2025

URL: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2024/03/opposition-to-kaiseraugst-nuclear-power-plant/

More of: 20th / 21st centuryPoliticsSocietyNature

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