Chronology of the Swiss nuclear debate
Published: Wednesday, Aug 28th 2024, 15:40
Updated At: Friday, Dec 20th 2024, 13:00
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Nuclear power has divided the Swiss population for decades. Now the Federal Council wants to allow the construction of new nuclear power plants in this country again. The most important events surrounding the Swiss nuclear debate at a glance:
September 1, 1969: Beznau I, Switzerland's first nuclear power plant, goes into operation. Beznau II follows in 1971, Mühleberg in 1972, Gösgen in 1979 and Leibstadt in 1984.
April 1, 1975: The anti-nuclear movement, which began to form at the end of the 1960s, reaches its first peak: In Kaiseraugst, there is an eleven-week occupation of the construction site for the planned nuclear power plant.
February 18, 1979: A first anti-nuclear initiative is rejected at the ballot box by a relatively narrow margin of 51.2 percent.
September 23, 1984: The Nuclear Initiative II (no more nuclear power plants) and the Energy Initiative are rejected by the people with 55 and 54 percent respectively.
April 26, 1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster (USSR/Ukraine)
1988: In the face of massive opposition, the federal government abandons the Graben and Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant projects.
September 23, 1990: In the federal vote, the moratorium initiative for a ten-year ban on the construction of nuclear power plants is accepted, the nuclear phase-out initiative is rejected.
October 22, 1998: The Federal Council speaks out in favor of an "orderly withdrawal from nuclear energy".
2000: The end of the ten-year moratorium on nuclear power plants and the entry into force of the CO2 Act (reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2010) give the proponents of nuclear power a new boost.
May 18, 2003: The nuclear initiatives "Strom ohne Atom" (for a nuclear phase-out) and "Moratorium Plus" (for a further ten-year moratorium on nuclear power plants) are clearly rejected.
February 1, 2005: The Nuclear Energy Act comes into force. It keeps the nuclear energy option open and subjects new nuclear power plants to an optional referendum.
February 21, 2007: The Federal Council decides to replace the existing nuclear power plants or add new ones.
June/October 2008: The energy companies Alpiq, Axpo and BKW submit applications to the federal government for the planned replacement nuclear power plants in Mühleberg BE, Beznau AG and Gösgen SO.
March 11, 2011: An earthquake and tsunami in Japan damages the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing widespread radiation.
March 14, 2011: As an immediate reaction to the events in Japan, the Federal Department of the Environment Uvek suspends the three general licensing procedures for the replacement of nuclear power plants in Switzerland.
May 25, 2011: The Federal Council advocates a longer-term nuclear phase-out. The existing nuclear power plants are to be decommissioned "at the end of their safe operating life" and not replaced. Parliament approves the phase-out plans in principle.
November 16, 2012: The Greens submit their nuclear phase-out initiative, which calls for a maximum operating life of 45 years for nuclear power plants.
September 4, 2013: In an initial package of measures submitted to parliament ("Energy Strategy 2050"), the Federal Council specifies how it intends to gradually phase out nuclear energy.
October 30, 2013: BKW AG announces that the Mühleberg nuclear power plant, which has been in operation since 1972, will be taken off the grid in 2019 because retrofitting is no longer financially viable.
December 8, 2014: The National Council decides to enshrine the ban on new nuclear power plants in law. The lifespan of the oldest nuclear power plants is to be limited to sixty years.
September 23, 2015: The Council of States also no longer wants to build new nuclear power plants. However, it does not want to know anything about lifetime restrictions and stricter requirements.
March 2, 2016: After the 2015 elections, the National Council overturns its previous decisions and joins the Council of States.
September 19, 2016: Parliament adopts the first package of measures for Energy Strategy 2050, which bans the construction of new nuclear power plants and increases the promotion of renewable energies.
November 27, 2016: With the Greens' nuclear phase-out initiative, the people reject a fixed expiration date for nuclear power plants.
May 21, 2017: Swiss voters say yes to the revised Energy Act with 58%. Six years after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the decision to phase out nuclear energy is thus taken.
January 1, 2019: The total revision of the Emergency Protection Ordinance (NFSV) in the event of a nuclear power plant accident comes into force.
December 19, 2019: The Mühleberg nuclear power plant is decommissioned after 47 years. The decommissioning is carried out for economic reasons.
August 28, 2022: The ban on the construction of nuclear power plants in Switzerland is to be lifted: This is what civil activists are calling for with an initiative entitled "Anytime electricity", which also has the motto "Stop the blackout".
December 5, 2024: The electricity operator Axpo announces the shutdown of the Beznau 1 and 2 nuclear power plants in 2033 and 2032.
December 20, 2024: The Federal Council submits a counter-proposal to the blackout initiative for consultation. It proposes deleting the ban on general licenses for nuclear power plants in the law without replacement.
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