Dubai Telegraph - Switzerland reopens door for new nuclear power plants

EUR -
AED 3.811555
AFN 76.284531
ALL 99.061141
AMD 408.230224
ANG 1.869351
AOA 950.136042
ARS 1103.559311
AUD 1.672305
AWG 1.868091
AZN 1.768428
BAM 1.950881
BBD 2.0943
BDT 126.02106
BGN 1.956649
BHD 0.391129
BIF 3080.059325
BMD 1.037828
BND 1.39868
BOB 7.166965
BRL 6.108701
BSD 1.037275
BTN 90.696771
BWP 14.356389
BYN 3.394558
BYR 20341.43687
BZD 2.083557
CAD 1.501479
CDF 2980.643574
CHF 0.937475
CLF 0.026001
CLP 997.772295
CNY 7.559339
CNH 7.571395
COP 4314.564056
CRC 526.37543
CUC 1.037828
CUP 27.502453
CVE 110.788592
CZK 25.086081
DJF 184.443274
DKK 7.458981
DOP 64.709009
DZD 140.427566
EGP 52.545844
ERN 15.567426
ETB 131.600663
FJD 2.432411
FKP 0.824435
GBP 0.825442
GEL 2.890394
GGP 0.824435
GHS 16.097123
GIP 0.824435
GMD 74.208728
GNF 8983.443101
GTQ 8.003667
GYD 217.003932
HKD 8.073008
HNL 26.724485
HRK 7.53661
HTG 136.249767
HUF 403.55998
IDR 17156.808497
ILS 3.735252
IMP 0.824435
INR 90.779422
IQD 1359.555219
IRR 43705.552949
ISK 145.507501
JEP 0.824435
JMD 163.530069
JOD 0.736032
JPY 156.316719
KES 133.364896
KGS 90.757098
KHR 4162.730123
KMF 492.968859
KPW 934.083618
KRW 1517.092424
KWD 0.320382
KYD 0.864396
KZT 517.148649
LAK 22526.066039
LBP 93751.516407
LKR 306.249355
LRD 206.061227
LSL 19.418165
LTL 3.064438
LVL 0.627772
LYD 5.069832
MAD 10.360126
MDL 19.395539
MGA 4903.739605
MKD 61.527792
MMK 2177.734731
MNT 3602.040473
MOP 8.309808
MRU 41.575799
MUR 48.574252
MVR 15.986438
MWK 1800.632652
MXN 21.322915
MYR 4.631313
MZN 66.328005
NAD 19.418161
NGN 1559.341054
NIO 38.140585
NOK 11.684084
NPR 145.114833
NZD 1.853928
OMR 0.399403
PAB 1.03739
PEN 3.865951
PGK 4.122929
PHP 60.132167
PKR 290.332887
PLN 4.195693
PYG 8221.272407
QAR 3.778773
RON 4.972448
RSD 117.161274
RUB 92.719837
RWF 1459.186747
SAR 3.89246
SBD 8.751713
SCR 14.934582
SDG 623.735228
SEK 11.162679
SGD 1.402422
SHP 0.824685
SLE 23.714764
SLL 21762.748731
SOS 593.122738
SRD 36.88702
STD 21480.952755
SVC 9.076117
SYP 13494.077719
SZL 19.418153
THB 35.5467
TJS 11.316423
TMT 3.632399
TND 3.288619
TOP 2.430702
TRY 37.781145
TTD 7.034299
TWD 34.165693
TZS 2692.127248
UAH 42.999489
UGX 3813.348985
USD 1.037828
UYU 44.038968
UZS 13906.901064
VES 66.840054
VND 26521.705062
VUV 128.765924
WST 2.94935
XAF 654.288485
XAG 0.033324
XAU 0.000363
XCD 2.804784
XDR 0.790112
XOF 654.354545
XPF 119.331742
YER 256.603452
ZAR 19.408481
ZMK 9341.704822
ZMW 29.535677
ZWL 334.180325
  • CMSC

    -0.1200

    23.39

    -0.51%

  • SCS

    0.0100

    12.16

    +0.08%

  • CMSD

    -0.0615

    23.56

    -0.26%

  • NGG

    0.6600

    62.13

    +1.06%

  • RBGPF

    65.0700

    65.07

    +100%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.81

    +0.68%

  • BTI

    0.2200

    38.93

    +0.57%

  • RYCEF

    0.0700

    9.48

    +0.74%

  • GSK

    0.2900

    37.59

    +0.77%

  • RIO

    -0.1500

    60.56

    -0.25%

  • BCC

    1.1100

    103.66

    +1.07%

  • JRI

    0.2500

    13.02

    +1.92%

  • BCE

    -0.2700

    23.12

    -1.17%

  • BP

    0.0000

    33.12

    0%

  • RELX

    0.7600

    48.37

    +1.57%

  • AZN

    0.5600

    76.21

    +0.73%

Switzerland reopens door for new nuclear power plants
Switzerland reopens door for new nuclear power plants / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP

Switzerland reopens door for new nuclear power plants

Switzerland said Wednesday it was open to building new nuclear power stations in the long term, given new geopolitical uncertainties, climate targets and population growth boosting the demand for electricity.

Text size:

The Swiss approved the gradual phase-out of nuclear power in a referendum in 2017, by banning the construction of new power plants.

That law was the result of a long process initiated after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, triggered by a tsunami.

However, "since 2017, the situation on the electricity market has changed radically", Energy Minister Albert Rosti told a press conference, following a government meeting.

Furthermore, last year voters backed a new climate bill aimed at steering the country towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

Rosti said new nuclear power was "not an option" in the short or even medium term.

"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.

His ministry will submit an amendment to the nuclear energy law by the end of the year.

Parliament would then have to debate it and the public would have to vote in a referendum.

"We are not saying that in 10 years there will be a new power plant... but we are responsible for leaving the door open to all possible technologies," said Rosti, stressing that if the process was not initiated now, it will "perhaps be too late in 20 years".

As the wealthy Alpine nation hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the government said it needed to be open to different technologies -- and the ban on new nuclear plants was "not compatible" with that objective.

The four nuclear power plants currently in service provide around a third of Switzerland's total electricity production. They can continue running as long as they remain safe.

When they eventually have to close, the government fears renewable energy might not be able to plug the gap.

"At the time, we had imagined producing the missing electricity using gas-fired power plants," but "this option has become almost unthinkable" to achieve carbon neutrality, Rosti explained.

He said the lifting of the ban on new nuclear power plants was a "fallback option, just in case".

The announcement was immediately criticised by Greenpeace Switzerland as well as centrist, socialist and environmentalist parties.

"The construction of a new nuclear reactor will come too late to effectively reduce our carbon emissions and will not free us from our dependence on third countries for our energy supply," said Greenpeace Switzerland.

Y.Chaudhry--DT