Axpo extends life of world’s oldest nuclear power plant

Axpo wants to keep Beznau nuclear power plant running until 2033 Keystone-SDA

Swiss energy company Axpo intends to continue operating the Beznau nuclear power plant until 2033. To this end, it will invest CHF350 million ($395 million) in the oldest infrastructure of this type still in operation on the planet.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Axpo has decided that Block 2 of the nuclear power plant will continue to run until 2032 and Block 1 until 2033, according to a press release issued on Thursday. They will then be decommissioned and shut down. Beznau will therefore have 64 years of electricity production when it is shut down.

The decision follows “extensive” reviews, Axpo wrote. External specialists, suppliers and the supervisory authority Ensi were involved. “Safety was the top priority in all considerations,” according to the press release.

+ Study looks at life of nuclear power plants beyond 2030

To ensure continued operation, Switzerland’s largest energy company will invest a further CHF350 million. Since commissioning, Axpo has invested over CHF2.5 billion in the retrofitting and modernisation of the two power plant units.

The Beznau nuclear power plant produces around 6 terawatt hours of electricity per year, which corresponds to the consumption of 1.3 million four-person households. Block 1 has been on the grid since 1969 and Block 2 since 1971. The reactors have open-ended operating licenses and there has been no specific shutdown date up to now.

Within the industry, a service life of at least 60 years has so far been assumed. Switzerland’s youngest and largest nuclear power plant in Leibstadt, for example, which has been in operation since 1984, is expected to produce electricity until at least 2045.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].