Zimmer: The Movement That Defeated a Nuclear Power Plant

In 1969, a combination of utility companies announced they would build a $395 million nuclear power plant in Moscow, Ohio, about thirty miles southeast of Cincinnati. Named after the president of Cincinnati Gas and Electric (CG&E), the William H. Zimmer nuclear power station was expected to provide the Cincinnati metropolitan area with affordable and clean energy, well-paying jobs, and tax revenue. However, as news spread that construction on the Zimmer plant was unsafe as well as over budget, public opinion of the project soured, culminating in a consumer-led campaign that ultimately compelled investors to abandon the nuclear station in 1984.

Zimmer: The Movement That Defeated a Nuclear Power Plant traces the story of the activists who worked to secure the plant's cancellation. Influenced by environmentalism, civil rights, and consumer rights, a broad-based coalition of concerned citizens―including parents, educators, local and state officials, whistleblowing construction workers, antinuclear activists, and lawyers―joined together to insist on public input and government accountability. Although the nuclear project was 99 percent complete, pressure from the anti-Zimmer campaign and government regulators along with major financial strain caused CG&E to repurpose the facility as a coal-burning plant.

By combining oral histories with government and corporate documentation, Zimmer pieces together a yet-untold narrative about political agency―demonstrating that ordinary, motivated people have the power to shape public health and energy infrastructure.

Alyssa S. McClanahan is a writer and scholar specializing in public, urban, and environmental history and historic preservation. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Cincinnati and she is the author of Findlay Market of Cincinnati, which uses Ohio's oldest continually operating public market to explore the larger history of US cities.