The Wackersdorf nuclear reprocessing plant () was a planned reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf in Bavaria, Germany. Because of protests, the plant was never completed. Today it is an industrial site with no special features.
Anti-WAA protest In the early 1980s, plans to build a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the Bavarian town of Wackersdorf led to major protests. Even during the initial clearing work, demonstrators attempted to occupy the construction site, erecting the Free Republic of Wackerland shantytown in 1985. After 18 days, it was cleared in January 1986 in a large-scale police operation. The district administrator of Schwandorf (district), Hans Schuierer, also refused to sign the necessary permits for the plant's construction. To circumvent the district administrator's blockade, the Bavarian State Parliament passed the "Lex Schuierer". Many people and politicians from Austria also demonstrated against the construction of the nuclear facility in Bavaria. Following entry bans and border blockades, the WAA conflict between Bavaria and Austria escalated.
In 1986, peaceful protests as well as heavy confrontations between West German police armed with stun grenades, rubber bullets, water cannons, CS gas and CN-gas and demonstrators of which some were armed with slingshots, crowbars and Molotov cocktails took place at multiple occasions at the site of a nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf.Energy and Now, the Political Fallout, Time, June 2, 1986Germans Arrest 300 In Antinuclear Protests The plans for the plant were abandoned in 1989. It is still unclear whether protests, plant economics, or the death of the Minister-President of the state of Bavaria, Franz Josef Strauß, in 1988 led to the decision.Nuclear Power in Germany: A Chronology
The Anti-WAAhnsinns Festivals were political rock concerts which took place in Germany in the 1980s. (The name is a pun on WAA and Wahnsinn = madness.) Their purpose was to support protests against a planned nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf. In 1986, the fifth festival marked the peak of the protest movement against the plant.
Information panels of the Schwandorf district
Today, two official commemorative plaques of the Schwandorf district commemorate the construction of and the resistance against the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant.Lektion in neuer deutscher Geschichte – Zuerst umstritten, dann beschlossen: Der Landkreis hat die erste Infotafel über Aufstieg und Niedergang der WAA aufgestellt. (A lesson in modern German history – First controversial, then decided: The district has erected the first information panel about the rise and fall of the WAA), Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 11 November 2015Marterlgemeinde enthüllt Infotafel – Vor dem 30. Jahrestages der Katastrophe von Tschernobyl erinnern die WAA-Aktivisten an den Widerstand in der Oberpfalz (Marterl community unveils information panel – Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, WAA activists commemorate the resistance in the Upper Palatinate), Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 25 April 2016 In 2016, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the Franziskus-Marterl, documenting the construction progress and the development of the resistance against the planned reprocessing plant up to the abandonment of the project.Zeittafel zur WAA-Geschichte enthüllt (Timeline of WAA history unveiled), Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 2 May 2016Im Taxölderner Forst steht eine Gedenktafel: Erinnerung an WAA-Zeiten. (In the Taxöldern Forest stands a memorial plaque: a reminder of the WAA era), Onetz, 25 April 2016 A similar information panel is also located on the former WAA site in front of the BMW plant.BMWs natürliche WAA-Kühlung. (BMW's natural WAA cooling.), Onetz, 12 November 2015
Inscription: The Wackersdorf reprocessing plant Project (WAA Wackersdorf) In the 1980s, this was the planned location for the Wackersdorf Reprocessing Plant (WAA). At the time, the WAA Wackersdorf was one of the most politically controversial construction projects in West Germany.History and Timeline
The WAA's task was to reprocess spent fuel elements from the nuclear power plants used to supply electricity in Germany.
This involved recovering the usable nuclear fuels uranium and plutonium and processing them into new fuel elements, as well as converting the non-usable radioactive waste from the spent fuel elements into a long-term stable form.
September 28, 1979
Decision by the heads of government of the federal and state governments, under the leadership of the Federal Government of Germany, to work towards the rapid construction of a reprocessing plant.
October 1981
The Bavarian State Government publishes the "Criteria for Evaluating Sites for an Industrial Plant for the Reprocessing of Spent Radioactive Fuel in Bavaria."
December 1, 1981
The (DWK) opens a site office in Wackersdorf.
February 18, 1982
Initiation of the regional planning procedure for the construction of a reprocessing plant in the Upper Palatinate.
September 17, 1982
The Upper Palatinate government declares two sites proposed by the DWK (Steinberg and Wackersdorf) suitable.
October 28, 1982
DWK selects Wackersdorf as the site and submits the application for the first partial construction permit under nuclear law to the Bavarian State Ministry for Regional Development and Environmental Affairs.
November 22, 1982
Soil investigations begin in the Taxöldern Forest.
June 1, 1983
An architectural competition for the plant's design is announced.
September 1, 1983
The DWK training workshop opens in Wackersdorf.
September 19, 1983
The safety report is made available for public review.
February 7, 1984
The first public hearing begins in Neunburg vorm Wald.
February 4, 1985
DWK officially selects Wackersdorf as the site for the national reprocessing plant.
September 18, 1985
Establishment of DWK-Wackersdorf Reprocessing Plant GmbH (DWW).
September 24, 1985
Granting of the first partial construction permit under nuclear law.
December 11, 1985
After the Bavarian Administrative Court dismissed an expedited legal action, the first clearing work began.
April 26, 1986
Chernobyl nuclear disaster
March 4, 1987
Excavation begins for the construction of the spent fuel storage facility.
January 26, 1988
Application submitted for the second partial nuclear permit.
July 11, 1988
The second public hearing begins in Neunburg vorm Wald.
April 1989
VEBA AG announces that the French company Cogema has submitted a bid to reprocess spent fuel elements from German nuclear power plants starting in 1999.
May 31, 1989
DWW halts construction work on the WAA site and waives its right to immediate enforcement under the first partial permit (TEG). ... June 6, 1989
The Federal Government of Germany decides that in future, waste disposal abroad will be treated equally to domestic waste disposal.Resistance against the WAA
Autumn 1981
Foundation of several citizens' initiatives against the WAA in the district and beyond.
November 14, 1981
2,000 people demonstrate against the WAA in Regensburg.
March 27, 1982
Demonstration in Schwandorf with 15,000 participants in response to DWK's application for the regional planning procedure.
May 21, 1983
Demonstration with approximately 5,000 participants to mark the start of exploratory drilling.
August 13/14, 1983
Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival Festival in Burglengenfeld with 600 attendees.
November 18, 1983
The citizens' initiative collected a total of 53,017 objections.
February 5, 1984
Ecumenical prayer service against the WAA on Kreuzberg hill (Kreuzberg Church, Schwandorf) in Schwandorf with approximately 500 participants.
February 9, 1984
Under protest, the objectors withdraw from the hearing and leave the courtroom.
September 30, 1984
The chapel with the wayside shrine (Franziskus-Marterl) of Saint Francis is erected.
February 4, 1985
Spontaneous demonstrations take place in Schwandorf and other cities.
February 16, 1985
A demonstration with 30,000 participants takes place in Schwandorf.
October 12, 1985
Demonstration in Munich with 50,000 participants.
December 14, 1985
After the start of clearing work, a demonstration with 40,000 participants takes place in Wackersdorf.
December 16, 1985
Eviction of the first hut village.
December 21, 1985
Construction of the second hut village (Free Republic of Wackerland) begins.
January 5, 1986
Approximately 15,000 people attend a cultural festival in the hut village, featuring Gerhard Polt and the Biermösl Blosn, among others.
January 7, 1986
Eviction of the second hut village (Free Republic of Wackerland)
March 31, 1986
Easter march in Wackersdorf. 100,000 people protest. Clashes break out at the construction fence. Police use water cannons and CS gas.
May 19, 1986
Over the Pentecost holidays, there are serious clashes between demonstrators and police at the fence.
July 26/27, 1986
Fifth Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival in Burglengenfeld with approximately 100,000 attendees.
October 9, 1986
Protest in front of the Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich and handover of 200,000 signatures against nuclear energy and reprocessing.
October 10, 1987
Following a demonstration in Wackersdorf, approximately 20,000 people march to the construction fence. A special unit of the Berlin police is deployed against the demonstrators.
May 31, 1989
DWK halts construction.
Opponents of the WAA (nuclear reprocessing plant) celebrate the project's end at the "Red Cross" site with skepticism.
During the years-long conflict, around 4,000 WAA opponents were charged and over 2,000 convicted.
Protest monuments
To this day, there are still some monuments to the WAA resistance against the plant (see List of monuments related to the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant): Franziskus-Marterl (St. Francis shrine/chapel) with the Cross of Wackersdorf near the WAA. At the chapel-shrine in the mid-1980s, WAA opponents met every Sunday at 14:00 for an ecumenical prayer and then moved into the area or to the hoarding. This is the same place where today the "Marterlgemeinde" meet four times a year to a prayer: at the Chernobyl- and Hiroshima-commemoration in memory of the shrine's saint Francis of Assisi on 3 October and on Christmas Eve.see also :de:Franziskus-Marterl (german) Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival memorial stone at Lanzenanger in Burglengenfeld Anti-WAA ex-voto in the Kreuzberg Church at Kreuzberg in Schwandorf WAA resistance memorial in front of the lake facilities, Bregenz Festspielhaus (Austria) Wackersdorf Memorial (Salzburg) in Salzburg (Austria)
Documentary films
Some German documentaries about WAA were filmed. 1986: WAAhnsinn – Der Wackersdorf-Film (documentary film) WAAhnsinn – Der Wackersdorf-Film 1986 - (Vimeo 90 min.)
1986: WAA Wackersdorf: Strahlende Zukunft für die Oberpfalz (WAA Wackersdorf: A Radiant Future for the Upper Palatinate: Monitor-documentary by Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, Ekkehard Sieker, Helge Cramer) WAA Wackersdorf: Strahlende Zukunft für die Oberpfalz 1986 - (Monitor-documentary on YouTube 15 min.)
1986: 18 Tage freies Wackerland (The 18 Days of the Free Wacker Land: Medienwerkstatt Franken, Bibliothek des Widerstands Band 19, BellaStoria Film) 18 Tage Freies Wackerland 2-3 - (YouTube 13 min.), 18 Tage Freies Wackerland - (Vimeo 32 min.),18 Tage Freies Wackerland 3-3 - (YouTube 11 min.)
1986: WAA-Schlachten (WAA Battles: Medienwerkstatt Franken, Bibliothek des Widerstands Band 19, BellaStoria Film) WAA-Schlachten - (YouTube 2 min.)
1987: Spaltprozesse (Fission processes - Wackersdorf 001: documentary film) Spaltprozesse 1987 - (YouTube, Trailer zum Film, 6 min.)
1988: Zaunkämpfe (Fighting at the Fence: Medienwerkstatt Franken 1988, BellaStoria Film) Zaunkämpfe - (YouTube 4 min.)
1989: (The Remaining Risk or the Arrogance of Power: documentary film) Restrisiko 1989 - (YouTube, Trailer, 7 min.)