In the early 1970s, the then CSV-DP government launched plans to build a nuclear power plant in Remerschen, along the Moselle river. At the time, the project targeted the area around the current “Baggerweieren” swimming ponds and the Haff Réimesch nature reserve - both of which were owned by the Société électrique de l’Our (SEO) utility company.
Following the 1974 elections, which resulted in a new coalition, the DP-LSAP government took over the plans to continue with the nuclear power plant. The government argued that Luxembourg needed to be dependent on autonomous energy production, warning of energy shortages by the 1980s, amid concerns of rising consumption.
But the Grand Duchy did not have the know-how to build such a power plant, so the government sought assistance from a partner in one of the neighbouring countries. In the end, they selected the German company RWE. In 1974, the government and RWE founded the Luxembourg nuclear energy society SENU. This society was to lead the project through its development phase and ultimately operate the finished power plant.
However, the project was met with criticism from a local citizens’ initiative, Museldall, which formed around politician and activist Elisabeth Kox-Risch, who later became its president. The initiative opposed the power plant, citing concerns over environmental protections. The government was taken aback by the fast growth and rising popularity of the opposing movement, as Museldall mobilised more than 1,600 people in under 2 weeks back in 1975 to protest the power plant. For the next four years, the movement was supported by private organisations which also opposed the project.
Despite minister Marcel Mart appearing on television in 1976 to warn that “the lights will go out in 1980" without the power plant, authorisation for the power plant’s construction was never granted.
The LSAP, one of the ruling parties of the coalition, called a special congress in 1977 to establish their democratic position on the plant, after the DP had voted in favour of the power plant as requested by then-PM Gaston Thorn earlier that year. However, the LSAP vote was split -while 153 members agreed to the project provided certain conditions were met, 156 demanded a moratorium, or a temporary halt to the project.
Although the government pushed to proceed with the power plant, by then the wind had left the project’s sails, and RWE were unwilling to extend their contract. Finally, in 1978, the government agreed to shelve the project, and plans were scrapped.
