4 Focus CHRISTOF FORSTER Seven years ago, Swiss voters gave the green light to a Switzerland free of nuclear power. The last nuclear power plants were to be decommissioned by 2050 as the country moved to full reliance on renewable energies and imports. The Federal Council now wants to change that: it decided at the end of August it would allow the construction of new nuclear power plants again. For that to happen, the construction ban has to lose its legal status. Albert Rösti reignites the atomic debate Seven years ago, Swiss voters decided to phase out nuclear power. The Federal Council is now looking to reverse that: it wants to approve the building of new nuclear power plants. This is a 180-degree shift in energy policy. This has really shaken up the energy debate in Switzerland. The discussion on the pros and cons of nuclear power, once thought to be over, is back with a vengeance. Energy Minister Albert Rösti is talking about a “paradigm shift”. Whereas politics and the economy had been contemplating a future without nuclear power, all bets are now off the table. Nuclear power has always been a polarising issue. The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in 2011 gave a boost to the anti-nuclear lobby. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Europe’s cities to protest against nuclear power. In Switzerland, Energy Minister Doris Leuthard, known as a supporter of nuclear power, placed applications to build new reactors on ice three days following the seaquake. That same year, the Federal Council decided to phase out nuclear energy over the long term. Nuclear power plants were to remain operational for as long as they were deemed safe by the supervisory authority. However, they would not be replaced. This deciSwiss Review / December 2024 / No.6
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYwNzMx