"At the dawn of the 21st century, nuclear power appeared to be drawing its last breath across much of Europe. Italy had shut down its last reactor in 1990. The Netherlands had closed one of its two reactors in 1997, and the other was set to cease operating in 2003. The Austrian parliament had voted in 1997 to keep the country nuclear-free [...] Each country, it seemed, was taking its turn driving the nail deeper into nuclear energy's coffin. But the nail didn't hold. " (Quoted from article)