Nuclear Revival: Switzerland Reopens Debate

Switzerland could be taking a significant turn to secure its electricity supply and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Albert Rösti, Minister of Environment, Transport, Energy, and Communications has declared a desire to revisit the law prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power plants.

The small nation of 8.7 million people aims to re-embrace technological neutrality to secure its electrical supply and meet its climate targets. In other words, the Federal Council (the Swiss government) is putting the nuclear option back on the table while the Nuclear Energy Act currently bans the construction of new units since its enforcement in January 2018. Albert Rösti has even suggested the Mühleberg site to host a new project.

Electricity for All at All Times

The nuclear subject was revisited on August 28, 2024, when the Federal Council responded to the popular initiative “Electricity for all at all times (Stop the blackout)” filed earlier in the year and which garnered over 129,000 signatures. The executive proposed an indirect counter-proposal, meaning a project act closely related to the initiative, but not adopting it as is for various reasons. The government thus clarified its stance:

“Switzerland aims for a net-zero emissions target by 2050, which entails completely replacing fossil fuels with climate-friendly electricity. Therefore, electricity needs will increase, also linked to demographic growth,” the Council assessed. “The initially planned option to replace the missing electricity with gas-fired power plants is no longer viable today due to the net-zero emission goal,” it further clarified [1]. This shift in posture is also motivated by geopolitical uncertainties: “the tense energy supply situation in Europe since 2022 means that the missing electricity cannot be replaced by imports in an appropriate quantity at all times, as previously assumed.”

A Return to Technological Neutrality

“General authorizations for the construction of nuclear power plants are prohibited,” states Article 12a of the Nuclear Energy Act unambiguously. This article, proposed by the political power, was validated by a referendum in 2017 obtaining 58.2% support [2] with a participation rate of 42.3% at the vote. However, it is worth noting that the Swiss rejected in 2016 the law that aimed to prohibit constructions and to limit the operation of reactors to 45 years.

To end the ban on renewing the nuclear fleet, the government argues that: “If nuclear power plants must one day be shut down, the missing electricity will need to be compensated for by other production facilities in Switzerland. It remains to be seen whether the development of renewable energies will be swift enough to cover the missing capacities and the growing need for electricity in time.” It adds: “That is why the Federal Council intends to promote openness to different technologies to plan responsibly for the security of the electricity supply. The ban on building new nuclear power plants is not compatible with the goal of openness to different technologies […].” Nuclear still produces a third of Swiss electricity with four reactors, amounting to a capacity of 2.9 GW.

The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy, and Communications will submit a corresponding amendment to the nuclear energy law to the Federal Council by the end of 2024. The consultation is expected to last until the end of March 2025, and Parliament will then debate the initiative and the counter-proposal. ■