Nuclear power: Swiss government wants to lift ban on new nuclear power plants
Responsible electricity supply planning must be open to all technologies, says the Swiss government.
Two reactors produce electricity at the Beznau nuclear power plant.
(Image: ENSI)
The Swiss government is planning a legislative reform that would lift the country's ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants. It remains to be seen whether renewable energies will be expanded quickly enough in the country to cover the increasing demand for electricity in time, while capacities are lost due to geopolitical uncertainties and other factors. Gas-fired power plants are out of the question, as Switzerland is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. These and oil-fired power plants are only a reserve for emergencies.
"In the interests of responsible planning of electricity supply security, the Federal Council is therefore striving for technological openness," reads a government statement. The existing ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants is not compatible with the goal of technological openness and also poses risks for the dismantling of existing plants.
In Switzerland, four reactors at three locations currently produce a third of the electricity required there. There is no lifetime limit for them. In 2017, the Swiss people voted to ban the construction of new nuclear power plants. In March of this year, the small chamber of the Swiss parliament, the Council of States , questioned this ban.
Expansion of renewables
The Federal Council has now responded to a popular initiative calling for the ban to be lifted on January 1, 2018 and for the constitution to be amended accordingly. The government rejects this because the Swiss constitution already stipulates a broadly diversified energy supply. The Swiss government plans to submit its reform of the Nuclear Energy Act to parliament in spring 2025.
In 2017, the Swiss people also voted in favor of expanding electricity production from renewable energies. In June of this year, the Swiss voted in favor of allowing 16 hydropower plants to be built or expanded. Large solar and wind power plants can also – now be implemented more easily, as the government had hoped –
Wind and solar power plants above a certain size and significance are considered "plants of national interest" in Switzerland. In Germany, there is a similar construct, "overriding public interest", which means that renewable energies or the hydrogen infrastructure still to be developed weigh more heavily when weighing up approvals.
(anw)
