ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss government said on Wednesday it plans to reverse a ban on the construction of new power plants to boost local energy supplies at a time of increased geopolitical tensions.
Energy Minister Albert Roesti said the government will submit a proposal to amend nuclear legislation by the end of 2024 so it can be debated in parliament next year.
“In the long term, new nuclear power plants are a possible way to make our supplies more secure in a geopolitically uncertain time,” Roesti told a news conference.
Not keeping this option could be seen as a betrayal by future generations, Roesti argued.
Switzerland decided to phase out nuclear power after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan in 2011.
In 2017, Swiss voters approved a government plan that included a ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants.
At the end of 2019, the Mühleberg nuclear power plant was taken off the electricity grid. Three nuclear power plants remain.
Roesti also reiterated that the government believed it was delivering on its promises to tackle climate change, in response to a European court ruling in April that ordered it to do more.
KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, which took the case to court together with Greenpeace, rejected this and said Switzerland is still not meeting its obligations.
