Our nuclear power plants stand like landmarks on German river landscapes - they are constructional witnesses to a bitter social and political dispute about energy, the economy and the assessment of the consequences of technology. Today, in the middle of the energy crisis, this dispute is more pertinent than ever. After the nuclear disaster of Fukushima, Germany decided in 2011 to phase out nuclear power: but why should all power plants now be renaturalised to green fields? Because only around 3 percent of the grey energy that the gigantic building volumes harbour is actually radioactively contaminated. This book offers a factual approach to the history of nuclear power, the technologies sued, their renaturation, as well as monument protection aspects. A photo essay by the contemporary witness Günter Zint documents the protest culture associated with this. Seven possibilities for reusing these awkward monuments are also shown - an approach that for a long time was not considered possible.

Hersteller:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
De Gruyter GmbH
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
Genthiner Strasse 13
DE 10785 Berlin

Janke Rentrop is assistant professor at the chair of urban design at the University of Kassel. Her research is on the re-use of nuclear power stations and mobility concepts for rural areas. Stefan Rettich is an architect and professor of urban design at the University of Kassel. From 2011-2016 he was professor of theory and design at the School of Architecture in Bremen. Prior to this, he taught at the Bauhaus Kolleg in Dessau for four years. He is a founding partner and co-owner of KARO* architects.