Axpo CEO welcomes Federal Council decision on new nuclear power plants
Published: Thursday, Dec 5th 2024, 13:10
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Axpo CEO Christoph Brand is pleased with Energy Minister Albert Rösti's plans to lift the ban on new nuclear power plant construction. He welcomes the decision because it would open up options for the Swiss energy supply.
In the end, the Swiss population will decide anyway, Brand said at the annual media conference in Baden on Thursday. And even if the Swiss voted in favor of new nuclear power plants, it was still not clear how the financial risks for possible construction and operation could be dealt with. It is no coincidence that in many countries the state is heavily involved in nuclear power plant projects.
Axpo will now calculate various scenarios over the next twelve months, including how many wind turbines would be needed in Switzerland and how expensive a gas-fired power plant would be. But the Group also wants to take a close look at the question of how much the construction and operation of nuclear power plants would actually cost. There are currently extremely different statements on this, said Brand.
Previously, Axpo's management had always emphasized that there was no need to discuss the construction of nuclear reactors as long as the ban was in place.
Federal Councillor Albert Rösti wants to remove the ban on the construction of nuclear power plants from the law and draw up a draft amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act by the end of the year. According to Rösti, modern nuclear power plants should be able to be built if necessary.
Consultation in parliament still to come
However, the nuclear phase-out has not yet found a majority in parliament. The consultation process should last until the end of March 2025. Parliament will then discuss the initiative and the counter-proposal.
This morning, Axpo announced that Block 2 of the Beznau nuclear power plant would continue to run until 2032 and Block 1 until 2033. This means that the oldest nuclear power plant in the world that is still connected to the grid will produce electricity for 64 years.
Originally, there was talk of a possible service life of 50 years for Swiss nuclear power plants. Most recently, the industry was talking about at least 60 years. However, the possibility that Beznau could be operated for even longer, or even 70 years, has been ruled out, said Brand.
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