The Swiss government announced Wednesday that it will cancel reactor projects and gradually phase out existing plants, making it the second European country after Germany to constrain its nuclear industry in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi crisis in Japan.
The New York Times and other international media reported that the Swiss cabinet will halt approvals for new nuclear plants, including three reactors that had been in the licensing process. Additionally, it decided to close existing nuclear plants at the end of their design lives, with the last going dark in 2034.
The European response to the tsunami-triggered station blackout and multiple-reactor accident at Fukushima Daiichi has been mixed, with France firmly retaining its longtime support for nuclear technology and Germany shutting down its oldest plants while indicating it will phase out the rest. The European Union has announced it will conduct “stress tests” on the continent's nuclear plants, and individual countries have vowed independently to review reactor safety in the context of natural disasters. Nonetheless, large anti-nuclear protests have taken place in Switzerland and elsewhere, and the technology has lost some of the political support gained in recent years as countries aim to reduce carbon emissions.
In Switzerland, nuclear provides 40 percent of the country's power. Its plants produce a combined 3,252 megawatts from three pressurized water reactors and two boiling water reactors built between 1969 and 1984, according to the World Nuclear Association.