"The world is no longer the same" Energy quake in Bern - Rösti wants to lift the ban on nuclear power plant construction

A popular initiative is relaunching the debate on the role of nuclear energy. Energy Minister Albert Rösti will present the Federal Council's position from 3 pm. Stream the media conference.

On May 21, 2017, the Swiss electorate voted in favour of phasing out nuclear power. The existing nuclear power plants should be allowed to continue operating as long as they are safe. However, the expansion of electricity production should now be based on renewable energies.

The blackout initiative aims to correct the 2017 referendum decision - and make the construction of new nuclear power plants possible again. The initiative demands that the electricity supply in Switzerland must be guaranteed at all times and that all environmentally and climate-friendly forms of power generation are permitted, including nuclear energy.

According to the "directional decision" taken on Wednesday, the Federal Council is open to this, as it announced. "The existing ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants is not compatible with the goal of technological openness and also poses risks for the dismantling of existing plants."

The world has changed since 2017, says Rösti. "A fundamental change has taken place." The war in Ukraine has shown that energy shortages can occur in winter. In addition, the demand for electricity is higher than assumed in 2017 and the expansion of renewable energies is progressing much more slowly than planned at the time.

The Federal Council also wrote that it remains to be seen whether the expansion of renewable energies will take place quickly enough to cover the loss of capacity and the increasing demand for electricity in time. It shares the position of the initiative committee that technological openness 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.

Proposal by the end of the year

Specifically, the Federal Council wants to draw up an indirect counter-proposal to the popular initiative, i.e. an amendment at legislative level. It wrote that lifting the ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants would not require an amendment to the constitution. For these and other reasons, it rejects the initiative proposing an amendment to the constitution.

According to the Federal Council, it intends to draw up the indirect counter-proposal before the end of this year. The aim is to ensure the long-term security of energy supply. The Federal Department of the Environment and Energy will submit an amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act by the end of 2024.

The consultation process should last until the end of March 2025, it added. Parliament will then discuss the initiative and the counter-proposal. Energy Minister Albert Rösti has said several times in the recent past that he is personally open to considering all technologies. "We should not play the technologies off against each other."