The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss government proposes lifting nuclear power ban

Planned end to ban on new nuclear power plant construction sparks new nuclear debate
Planned end to ban on new nuclear power plant construction sparks new nuclear debate Keystone-SDA

The Swiss government has launched a counter-proposal to lift the ban on new nuclear power plants. The centre-right and the energy sector are welcoming the move, while the Greens are threatening to call a referendum.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

In response to the popular initiative “Electricity for all at all times (stop the blackout)”, the Federal Council – Switzerland’s executive body – is suggesting the removal of the ban on general licences for nuclear power plants from the Nuclear Energy Act. The consultation period for this proposal concluded on Wednesday.

The Swiss People’s Party backs the counter-proposal “with conviction,” according to its consultation response. The Radical-Liberal Party highlights a looming electricity shortfall. Meanwhile, the Centre Party has strong reservations but still supports the counter-proposal.

More

The Social Democrats, Greens, Green Liberals and environmental groups are staunchly against building new nuclear power plants, arguing that nuclear energy is neither sustainable nor renewable. In contrast, the energy sector is in favour of “technological openness,” which they believe will ensure a stable power supply.

What is your opinion? Join the debate:

External Content

Translated from German with DeepL/sp

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team.

Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey on this page to help us understand your needs.

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR