the safest nuclear power plant ever

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This post is about a 20km walk from Pischelsdorf to Traismauer. I pass the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant in the rain.

16000km. I had originally wanted to get a costume for the dance. I figured it would be the last one on The Longest Way, and I wanted to dress up as a T-Rex, a unicorn, or a penis.

In the end, I had decided against it. We were still a bit more than 1000km from home, so there would be at least one more dance. My costume for this time consisted of just my poncho and my exhaustion.

the room

I woke up in a smelly room. I found it the night before when I had asked a group of villagers who we’re just coming out of a church for their help. Do you know anywhere where I can sleep, preferably with a roof over my head? I had asked them, and they had called a guy.

The guy was renting out rooms to workers. Mostly construction workers, it seemed. I could see their boots in the corridor: hard, muddy, worn out boots, pair after pair.

the cyclist and the dog

When I got going in the morning, it was still raining. I walked next to a busy road for a little bit, and then I was back on the EuroVelo. It was green and wet and full of snails and earthworms. I tried not to crush any of them as I was stomping through the rain.

I just reached the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant when I ran into Andreas and Lotta. They were riding the whole length of the Danube river from its spring in southern Germany to the Black Sea.

Andreas was excited while Lotte was feeling bored and cold. We took a few pictures together, and I told Andreas to get vaccinated against rabies before reaching Romania. Then I was alone with the nuclear power plant.

Zwentendorf

It was the site of one of the biggest policy failures in the history of the Republic of Austria.

Here’s how it went down:

  1. In the early 1970s, the Austria decided to build a nuclear power plant.
  2. After four years of building it was almost done
  3. This was when the government decided it was time for a referendum.
  4. They asked the population of Austria if they really wanted a nuclear power plant or not.
  5. A tiny bit over 50% said no, they didn’t want one.
  6. The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was killed off.
  7. They used the building as army barracks.
  8. They put some solar panels on the premises.
  9. Yay.

Austria was now the only country in the world to have built a nuclear power plant without ever using it.

pictures

the walk from Pischelsdorf to Traismauer:

 



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