The Swiss government (Federal Council) has announced plans to lift a ban on the construction of new NPPs that has been in place since 2018. This is part of a broader strategy to address evolving energy needs, driven by climate targets, increasing electricity demand, and geopolitical uncertainties.

Switzerland currently has four ageing nuclear reactors generating about a third of its electricity. These are are the two-unit Beznau NPP (730 MWe), the single unit 985 MWe Gösgen NPP and the single unit 1,165 MWe Leibstadt NPP. They all have an unlimited operating licence and can be operated as long as they are safe. A fifth reactor, the 372 MWe the Mühleberg NPP, was closed in 2019 and is undergoing decommissioning.   

The decision to reconsider the nuclear ban reflects a clear change in public opinion. While the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster led Switzerland to adopt a policy of gradually withdrawing from nuclear power. Recent legislative developments have shown support for a more flexible approach to energy policy. These include the Electricity For Everyone At All Times initiative launched in February by centre-right parties challenging the ban on new NPPs. In June the Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply with Renewable Energies was adopted.

The Federal Council has now considered the Electricity For Everyone At All Times initiative and has rejected it in favour of a counter-proposal which it will put forward later this year, which seeks the same outcome but aims to simplify the process. The Federal Council said it “shares the initiative committee’s position that openness to technology is a prerequisite for being able to cover the increasing demand for electricity in a climate-friendly, safe and reliable manner in the long term”.

The Initiative proposed that the federal constitution should state that the power supply must be ensured at all times and that the federal government should determine the necessary responsibilities. Electricity production should be environmentally and climate-friendly and all climate-friendly types of electricity generation should be permitted. Adoption of the initiative would result in a new division of tasks between the Confederation and the cantons and the abolition of the January 2018 ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants.

The Federal Council pointed out that the federal constitution already prescribes a wide range of energy supplies. “Therefore, lifting the new building ban for nuclear power plants does not require a constitutional change. An adjustment at the legal level is sufficient.” It is also not necessary to anchor in the federal constitution that the federal government defines the responsibilities for security of electricity supply. “The federal constitution already regulates that the federal government and the cantons are committed to energy supply within the scope of their responsibilities”. Also, the initiative could question the possible operation of reserve power plants during electricity shortages and would create new uncertainties in the power supply. “For all these reasons, the Federal Council rejects the popular initiative.”

The Federal Council said it is undisputed that electricity demand in Switzerland will continue to increase in the coming years. “In addition to population growth, the climate target of net zero emissions by 2050 is a strong driver of this development. The climate goal can only be achieved by consistently replacing fossil energies with climate-friendly electricity.”

If the NPPs are shut down, the loss of electricity must be compensated for by other domestic production facilities. “It remains to be seen whether the expansion of renewable energies will take place quickly enough to be able to cover the lost capacities and the increasing electricity demand in good time,” the Federal Council noted. “In the sense of responsible planning of security of electricity supply, the Federal Council is therefore striving for openness to technology. The existing ban on new construction for nuclear power plants is not compatible with the goal of open technology and also harbours risks for the dismantling of existing plants.”

The Federal Department of Energy & Communications is expected to submit an amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act to the Federal Council by the end of 2024, with a consultation process set to run until March 2025. Following this, the Swiss Parliament will discuss both the initiative and the government’s counter-proposal.

The Swiss Nuclear Forum welcomed the Federal Council’s decision. “The lifting of the new ban on nuclear power plants in Switzerland would mark an important step towards a safe and climate-friendly power supply.” However, it added: “At the same time, the Nuclear Forum emphasises that this step alone is not enough. It is also necessary to simplify the approval process and legal certainty during the project planning and construction phase in order to enable new construction projects in Switzerland.”

Energy Minister Albert Rösti told a press conference, following the government meeting, that “since 2017, the situation on the electricity market has changed radically”. He 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 added: “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” If the process was not initiated now, it will “perhaps be too late in 20 years”. When the ban on new NPPs was imposed “we had imagined producing the missing electricity using gas-fired power plants,” but “this option has become almost unthinkable”, he said. “Over the long term, new nuclear power plants are one possible way of making our supply more secure in a geopolitically uncertain time.”

In a later interview with SonntagsBlick, Rösti defended his plans after critics accused him of wanting to overturn the referendum banning new NPPs. “Only the people can overturn a referendum,” he said. “Of course, I am also a democrat! This criticism is therefore completely out of touch with reality. The Federal Council is obliged to anticipate new starting points and to submit them to the population because something may no longer be relevant.”

He listed five factors that have changed since the decision to phase out nuclear power:

  • Decarbonisation: Due to the agreed net-zero target, significantly more fossil energy sources are needed.
  • War in Ukraine: What was previously unthinkable became reality because of the war in Europe and a lack of electricity in Switzerland.
  • Gas power plants: As long as gas-fired power plants are powered by fossil fuels, they are no longer an alternative.
  • Population growth: The population is growing faster than expected and “more people mean more electricity consumption”.
  • Obstacles to alternative projects: Many renewable energy projects such as alpine solar power plants are delayed or blocked.

When asked whether he could envisage a new NPP in his hometown of Uetendorf, he replied: “No. I can’t really imagine that.” Any new NPP would probably be built at an existing site “because of acceptance among the population”. Rösti cited Mühleberg as an example “People have depended on it for decades and have found that it is definitely a positive thing, also in terms of jobs.” However, a NPP would have a very difficult time at a new location “unless perhaps the small modular reactor achieves a breakthrough, which experts believe could happen in the next ten years”.

As to opposition from neighbouring countries such as Germany, he noted: “The Baden-Württemberg government may be critical. But I remember the Bavarian government was quite happy when we exported electricity. Germany had to import electricity from Switzerland three times the winter before last. So our policy is also in Europe’s interest.”

Already, two Aargau municipalities have indicated that they are ready for another NPP. Michael Mäder, community leader of the Döttingen municipality said: “We are ready for Beznau 3”. The community leader in Leibstadt, Hanspeter Erne, is similarly enthusiastic for a possible Leibstadt 2.

While nuclear energy advocates generally welcomed the development, few expect change to be easy or quick. Stephanie Eger, nuclear energy expert at the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES Schweizerische Energie-Stiftung), said changing the law, finding the financing, obtaining the permits – while seeing off likely referenda by opponents – and building a plant, would probably take at least 35 years. Subsidies would also very likely be necessary and so nuclear advocates would require “a lot of stamina and deep pockets” to see it through. She said there were cheaper and more sustainable alternatives.

Andreas Pautz, head of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering and Sciences at the Paul Scherrer Institut said the years needed to lift the ban on new nuclear plants and get licences approved would mean any construction was unlikely to begin before 2040. In that case, with supply chain improvements and streamlined regulations, commercial operations could begin by the middle of the 2040s.