When it comes to nuclear, no story is better than the story of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant in Austria. It was built, finished, ready to start providing

When it comes to nuclear, no story is better than the story of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant in Austria. It was built, finished, ready to start providing 692 MW of power. But was prevented with a referendum on 5 November 1978 by a narrow majority of 50.47% against. So they didn't start it. They instead replace it with Dürnrohr Power Station, a termal power station burning coal and gas. The push for ideological purity that prevented them from accepting a less-than-perfect choice, lead to getting stuck with the worst-possible choice when reality came knocking. It's a cautionary tale for all ideologically “passionate” people, of which we have far too many in today's society.