Change of course! The Swiss government said on Wednesday, August 29, that it was in favor of a possible return to nuclear power in the long term, given the changes in the electricity market and geopolitical uncertainties. The Swiss approved the gradual phase-out of nuclear power in a referendum in 2017 by voting for a law banning the construction of new power plants.
This law was the result of a long process initiated after the Fukushima nuclear accident, caused by a gigantic tsunami in March 2011 in Japan.
“Since 2017, the situation on the electricity market has changed radically,” said Minister of the Environment, Transport and Energy Albert Rösti at a press conference in Bern after a meeting of the Federal Council (government). “It is absolutely clear that in the short term, even in the medium term, we should not discuss nuclear energy, it is not an option. But to be ready, if it is necessary in the long term, in the next 15 years I would say, we must start now,” he stressed.
Amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act
His ministry will submit an amendment to the nuclear energy law to the government by the end of 2024. Parliament will then have to debate it, and the population will have to vote in a referendum. “We are not saying that there will be a new power plant in 10 years […] but we are responsible for leaving “the door” open to all possible technologies, insisted Albert Rösti, stressing that if this process is not launched today, it will “perhaps be too late in 20 years.”
As the country hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the government “intends to promote openness to different technologies to responsibly plan the security of electricity supply,” it said in a statement.
However, “the ban on building new nuclear power plants is not compatible with the objective of opening up to different technologies and even presents risks for the dismantling of existing installations”, according to the government.
The four nuclear power plants in operation supply around a third of Switzerland’s total electricity production. They have an unlimited licence, as long as they are safe. According to current law, if they ever have to be shut down, the missing electricity must be compensated by other production facilities in Switzerland.
But the government fears that the development of renewable energies will not be fast enough to cover the missing capacities and the growing need for electricity in time. “At the time, we had imagined producing the missing electricity using gas-fired power stations” but “this option has become almost unthinkable” to achieve carbon neutrality, according to Albert Rösti.
Rapid population growth
The minister also mentioned the deterioration of the geopolitical situation, particularly in Europe over the past two years, and the rapid growth of the Swiss population and electricity needs. The government’s decision “in no way calls into question the development of renewable energies,” he assured.
“Lifting the ban on building new nuclear power plants is only a fallback option, just in case, and a long-term option. Because it is about anticipating the growth in demand for electricity,” he said.
The government’s announcement was immediately criticized by Greenpeace Switzerland and the center, socialist and environmentalist parties. Building new nuclear power plants is “economic nonsense. Nobody wants them, not even the Swiss electricity suppliers,” the Greens stressed. The Swiss Socialist Party is also “firmly opposed to this irresponsible step backwards that blocks the development of renewable energies.”