nuclear-news

Switzerland to vote on accelerating nuclear power shutdown

The initiative, if passed by the people in a nationwide vote, would require the closing of Beznau I, Switzerland’s oldest nuclear power plant, within one year of the vote.

Public set to vote on phasing out nuclear power, SwissInfo.ch, 16 Nov 12, Members of the Green Party deliver signatures for the initiative to phase out atomic energy (Keystone) The Green Party has collected 109,000 signatures in support of a people’s initiative that would require caps on the lifetimes of existing nuclear power plants in Switzerland and a ban on the construction of new ones.

The initiative was needed to ensure the transition to the government’s
new energy strategy, said Regula Rytz, co-president of the Green
Party, before the media in Bern on Thursday.

“The nuclear phase-out should not be delayed any further,” she added.

Rytz described the initiative as a “safety net” providing protection
against the “unbelievable risks and subsequent costs” of atomic
energy.

Although the cabinet committed in 2011 to a phase-out of nuclear
power, it has not set a binding deadline.

“We have one,” said the Green Party’s vice-president, Bastien Girod.

The initiative, if passed by the people in a nationwide vote, would require the closing of Beznau I, Switzerland’s oldest nuclear power plant, within one year of the vote. The lifetimes of the other four
plants would be limited to 45 years, meaning that the newest plant, in
Leibstadt, would be closed by 2029…..
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/i.html?cid=33975806&sb=twi

November 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Switzerland