Announced referendum Repository opponents: "Decision for a million years must go to the people"

Stefan Michel

15.11.2024

The application for the construction of a nuclear repository in Stadel ZH has not yet been submitted. But opponents are already announcing a referendum against it. You can watch the media conference in the video.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • A committee is calling for a mandatory referendum on the planned geological repository in the Zurich municipality of Stadel before it is built.
  • Construction of the repository is scheduled to start in 2045, with the Federal Council and Parliament due to decide from 2029.
  • The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) has designated the Haberstal in the Zurich municipality of Stadel as the site where the nuclear repository is to be built. It has not yet submitted the general license application.

Even before the responsible authority submits the general license application for a geological repository next week, resistance is spreading: a committee is demanding that, after parliament, the people must also give the green light for the project.

It has been known since September 2022 that the nuclear waste repository is to be drilled in the Zurich municipality of Stadel, more precisely in Haberstal. The Federal Council and Parliament will decide on the repository from 2029. Construction is scheduled to start in 2045.

Opponents call for a referendum

"A decision with implications for a million years should be put to the people": with this slogan, a group relaunched the national debate on a nuclear repository in front of the media in Bern on Friday. According to the committee, such a complex issue should be subject to a mandatory referendum. This would require a majority of the cantons as well as a majority of the people.

The committee is made up of organizations that, according to their own statements, "deal with the repository scientifically and politically".