A protest against nuclear power occurred in July 1977 in Bilbao , Spain , with up to 200,000 people in attendance . Following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 , an anti-nuclear protest was held in New York City , involving 200,000 people . In 1981 , Germany 's largest anti-nuclear power demonstration took place to protest against the Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant west of Hamburg ; some 100,000 people came face to face with 10,000 police officers . The largest protest was held on June 12 , 1982 , when one million people demonstrated in New York City against nuclear weapons . A 1983 nuclear weapons protest in West Berlin had about 600,000 participants . In May 1986 , following the Chernobyl disaster , an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people marched in Rome to protest against the Italian nuclear program . In the US , public opposition preceded the shutdown of the Shoreham , Yankee Rowe , Millstone 1 , Rancho Seco , Maine Yankee , and many other nuclear power plants
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
Anti-nuclear movement