Atomenergie und gespaltene Gesellschaft: Die Geschichte des gescheiterten Projektes Kernkraftwerk Kaiseraugst

Kupper, Patrick | from Multimedia Library Collection:
Books & Profiles

Kupper, Patrick. Atomenergie und gespaltene Gesellschaft: Die Geschichte des gescheiterten Projektes Kernkraftwerk Kaiseraugst [Atomic Energy and Divided Society: The History of the Failed Kaiseraugst Nuclear Power Plant]. Zürich: Chronos Verlag, 2003.

Until the project was finally abandoned in 1989, the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant was the focus of Swiss disputes on nuclear energy for almost twenty years. In this case study, Patrick Kupper pursues the question of how an electro-technical infrastructure project could become the focal point of discourse about common basic values of Swiss society. Kupper seeks to combine technology, environmental, business, social, and cultural history in order to write “a part of the cultural history of nuclear technology.” In contrast to most research dealing with the history of nuclear power, Kupper does not focus on the antinuclear movement. Instead, he chooses the perspective of the company “Kernkraftwerk Kaiseraugst AG” (KWK) and its predecessors, whose company archives could be drawn on for the first time. This approach allows for more comprehensive insights into the causes of failure of a technological large scale project than the usual concentration on civil-societal opposition or the energy policy of the respective government and administration. (Text adapted from an H-Net review by Ute Hasenoehrl.)