Zimmer

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, clean energy, well-paying jobs, and tax revenue. However, as news that construction on the Zimmer plant was unsafe as well as overbudget spread, public opinion of the nuclear power station soured, culminating in a consumer-led campaign that ultimately compelled investors to abandon the nuclear project in 1984.

Zimmer: The Movement That Defeated a Nuclear Power Plant traces the story of the activists who called attention to the disaster and helped 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.