Switzerland continues its nuclear safety awareness with iodine pills distributed to the population
Bloomberg, By Paula Doenecke and Kevin Whitelaw, October 28, 2023
ZURICH — Switzerland is in the middle of a ritual it performs once a decade: distributing a fresh round of iodine pills to protect its people should something go wrong with one of its nuclear power plants.
Residents who live within 50 kilometers of one of the nation’s three nuclear power plants will find an orange package with a dozen tablets in their mailbox by next April. The delivery replaces the lilac box of thyroid cancer prevention medication that the government handed out 10 years ago.
The campaign may seem like a Cold War relic to some — newly arrived expatriates are often startled to be handed a voucher for their pills when they first register at the town hall. But the idea is that sirens would sound in the event of a nuclear accident so that people could take a dose before any fallout reaches them.
The pills containing the compound potassium iodide are distributed free of charge, including in the financial and industrial centers of Zurich and Basel. People living within the 50-kilometer radius, but on the German side of the border, are left to fend for themselves.
The logistical effort costs 34 million Swiss francs (€35.9 million) — a third of which is financed by the nuclear power plant operators. Beyond protecting the health of the Swiss people, the strategy is part of the country’s long-standing identity of neutrality, dubbed Reduit Switzerland, or Swiss Fortress. That pride of self-defense still manifests today in a multitude of well-maintained tank stoppers and bunkers spread throughout the Swiss Alps.
While Germany and France are battling these days over the role of nuclear power in Europe’s energy transition, Switzerland is proceeding on its path of risk mitigation — keeping its remaining three atomic plants running as long as they are functioning, as decided by a public vote in 2017. It retired a fourth in Muehlenberg in 2019…….. more https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-10-28/switzerland-s-once-a-decade-nuclear-ritual #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Fresh stock of iodine tablets for Swiss living near nuclear plants
People living within a 50km radius of Swiss nuclear power plants will receive a fresh stock of iodine tablets over the coming weeks and until next April.
October 13, 2023
The government has purchased 12 million packs of iodine tablets. The budget for the iodine distribution campaign is CHF34 million of which CHF11 million will be financed by the nuclear power plant operators, who will pay CHF 1.22 million a year into government’s general fund from 2021 to 20……………………………………………………. more https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/fresh-stock-of-iodine-tablets-for-swiss-living-near-nuclear-plants/48887374
#nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Why Swiss Neutrality is essential for American national security
SCOTT RITTER, SEP 9, 2023
Thirty years ago, a gathering of like-minded teachers, social workers, and medical professionals took place in a village some 40 miles outside of the northern Swiss city of Zurich. Their goal was to create a discussion group dedicated to the idea of the courageous pursuit of ethical living—“Mut zur Ethik,” in Swiss-German.
Over the course of three days—September 1-3—this group, by this time veterans of three decades of commitment to their cause, convened their 30th meeting in a conference center in the quaint Swiss town of Sirnach. The conference featured speakers from around the world—Peru, the Congo, and Afghanistan stand out—as well as Europe and North America. The noted journalist Patrick Lawrence, together with his wonderful wife, Kara, were in attendance. I joined them as the only other American present in a crowd that numbered well over 200, with many more participating via video conference.
Numerous topics were discussed, ranging from American exceptionalism to Lithium mining, and almost everything in between. But the one that stood out to me was the issue of Swiss neutrality………………….The main takeaway for me from the Mut zur Ethik conference was the absolute necessity of Switzerland remaining viably neutral, and how important this was from the perspective of American national security………………………………………..
Switzerland continues to honor its current laws prohibiting the direct delivery of weapons to any nation engaged in war. Moreover, the re-export of Swiss-made weapons by third countries requires permission from the Swiss government. In the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, several European governments whose military possess stocks of Swiss-made ammunition have made such requests, but to date, no permission has been granted, something that has drawn the ire of the United States.
Enter Scott Miller, the US Ambassador to Switzerland. Miller has strongly urged Switzerland to allow the re-exportation of munition, declaring that the ban “benefits the aggressor [Russia], who violates all principles of international law.”……………………………………………
Many Swiss are concerned about what they view as the blatant interference in Swiss neutrality on the part of the US and its European allies. Last year, Pro Schweiz, an association affiliated with the conservative Swiss People’s Party, launched a campaign calling for a referendum designed to protect Switzerland’s neutrality by prohibiting it from participating in future sanctions and defense alliances. This would be accomplished through changes in the Swiss Constitution that would prevent Switzerland from joining a defense alliance unless it first came under direct attack, and ban “non-military coercive measures” such as sanctions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
There will be a critical need for a neutral party who can provide a haven for the talks and negotiations that will be essential for the preservation of world peace and security. Switzerland is ideally positioned to be that neutral party, but only if it can regain the stature it enjoyed prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This can only happen if the United States stops pressuring Switzerland to give up on its neutrality in pursuit of shortsighted policies that will do little to change the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Swiss neutrality is not just good for Switzerland. It is also essential for US national security and should be supported at all costs. https://www.scottritterextra.com/p/why-swiss-neutrality-is-essential?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=6892&post_id=136867957&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&utm_medium=email
Zelensky’s Swiss parliament speech boycotted by right-wing Swiss People’s Party
Rightwing members of the Swiss parliament boycotted an address by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that called for war materiel export restrictions to be eased.
swissinfo.ch June 15, 2023June 15, 2023
Members of the Swiss People’s Party were absent from the parliamentary chamber in protest against perceived interference of Swiss affairs.
Zelensky has in the past urged Switzerland to beef up sanctions against Russian oligarchs and now wants Swiss-manufactured weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
“I know there is a discussion in Switzerland about the exportation of war materiel to protect and defend Ukraine. That would be vital,” Zelensky said during his video-link address on Thursday. “We need weapons so we can restore peace in Ukraine.”……………………………
Switzerland has resisted calls from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain to allow them to re-export Swiss-made ammunitions and weapons to support Ukraine in the fight against Russia.
Earlier this year, the Swiss parliament voted against a softening of war materiel export restrictions as it would violate Switzerland’s position of neutrality.
The People’s Party refused to listen to Zelensky’s address that was interpreted as an attempt to weaken the Swiss tradition of neutrality.
“………..we must not allow ourselves to be put under pressure on the issue of sanctions or arms deliveries,” said People’s Party parliamentarian Alfred Heer.
“I oppose the Ukrainian President making a video address in the House of Representatives,” tweeted Thomas Aeschi, parliamentary leader of the People’s Party, last month when Zelensky’s address was announced.
“Ukraine is trying to directly influence parliament to take a decision on weapons/ammunition deliveries. Our neutrality would be violated!”………….. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/zelensky-s-swiss-parliament-speech-boycotted-by-right-wingers/48592932
Swiss Government wants command centre in case of ‘nuclear event’
Government wants command centre in case of ‘nuclear event’
The Swiss government on Friday laid out responsibilities in case of a nuclear attack or nuclear disaster linked to the war in Ukraine. September 30, 2022
While the defence ministry currently considers this unlikely, the government says it is necessary to be prepared and be able to react rapidly.
It has tasked the defence ministry to set up a Federal Strategic Command Staff if there were to be such an event or it looked likely. This Command Staff will be headed by the secretary-general of the defence ministry and include the secretary generals of all the ministries, the federal government spokesperson, heads of the federal health, civil defence, energy and other key offices as well as representatives of the army, police and fire brigade…………………..more https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/government-sets-chain-of-command-in-case-of–nuclear-event-/47943850
Switzerland plans controversial nuclear waste dump all too close to German border
A plan for a nuclear waste storage facility in Switzerland is raising
safety concerns among Germans close to the border. The project, which is
backed by power plant operators, requires approval by the Swiss government.
Switzerland has announced plans to build a nuclear waste storage facility
on the border with Germany, leaving communities concerned about the issues
of safety and clean drinking water supply. The National Cooperative for the
Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) is behind the proposal. It suggested
the region of Nördlich Lägern, north of Zurich and close to the border
with Germany, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy said.
Deutsche Welle 10th Sept 2022
Future threat to Europe’s water supplies as Switzerland’s glaciers are rapidly thawing
Switzerland’s glaciers have lost more than half their volume in less than a
hundred years, and the long hot summer this year has accelerated the thaw,
a new study shows. The glaciers support ski resorts and attract climbers
and hikers in summer, but are also essential to Europe’s water supply. Now,
communities across the Alps are worrying about their future.
BBC 1st Sept 2022
Swiss nuclear power plant reduces output to protect fish during heatwave
One of Switzerland’s nuclear power stations has temporarily scaled back operations to avoid raising the temperature of its feeder river to levels that are dangerous for fish.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-nuclear-power-plant-reduces-output-to-protect-fish-during-heatwave/47761010 , July 18, 2022
Beznau is Switzerland’s oldest nuclear plant and comprises two stations built on a small artificial island in the river Aare in the north of the country. Unlike two newer stations, Beznau was not built with a cooling tower but relies on water from the Aare to control temperatures.
Producing some 6,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year typically raises the temperature of downstream water by between 0.7 and one degree Celsius.
Switzerland is experiencing a prolonged summer heatwave that has already raised the temperature of rivers, including the Aare. Freshwater fish species living in the river cannot tolerate water temperatures much above 25 degrees Celsius.
As a result, Beznau operator Axpo has been forced to reduce output to meet its legal environmental commitments.
The plant would be forced to shut down completely if water temperatures rise above 25 degrees for three consecutive days, reports Swiss public broadcaster SRFExternal link.
Switzerland is already facing up to the impact of rising energy costs and potential shortagesExternal link in the coming months, driven in part by meteorological conditions but also disruptions caused by the Ukraine war.
But this danger is expected to strike in the winter months when Switzerland’s hydro-power dams are less productive. At this time of year, the river temperature issue will be less of a problem.
Switzerland produces around 30% of its electricity from its three nuclear power plants. The government decided in 2011 to phase out nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
The initial idea was to stop nuclear power production by 2034. The Mühleberg plant is currently being dismantledExternal link.
Uncertainties about securing long-term power supplies led to the fixed deadline of 2034 being scrapped and replaced with a more vague commitment to only keeping the remaining power stations running as long as it is safe.
Ukraine has sold two French-donated 155mm Caesar howitzers to Russia
PANAGYURISHTE ($1=1.88 Bulgarian Levs) — French and Ukrainian [from Donbas] sources claim that in the hands of the Russian army, and more precisely in the production workshops of the Russian manufacturer Uralvagonzavod, there are two 155mm self-propelled howitzers Caesar, donated by France to Ukraine, as military aid against the Russian invasion on February 24 this year.
On June 20, French lawyer Régis de Castelnau wrote on his official Twitter account: “Another success of Macron: 2 French Caesar guns were intercepted intact by the Russians. They are currently in the Uralvagonzavod factory in the Urals for study and possible reverse engineering. Thank you Macron, we are paying”.
A few days later, on June 23rd, the Russian company [Uralvagonzavod] responded to the French lawyer, through its official Telegram profile and citing Régis de Castelnau’s tweet, writing: “Hello, Mr. Regis. Please convey our thanks to President Macron for the donation of the self-propelled guns. This material is of course not tip-top… not like our MSTA-S! But nevertheless, it will be useful. Send more – we’ll take them down.”
Ukrainian sources from Donbas claim that they are also aware of this case, but not from the French lawyer or the Russian plant, but from French military sources, emphasizing that the online publication Donbas Insider does not cite who exactly the French military sources are.
France’s General Staff has denied reports of a French Caesar self-propelled howitzer being captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. “This information is false,” said the General Staff of France. “We categorically deny it. We’ve discussed this with our Ukrainian partners.” According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, no evidence was provided to support the claim.
The news of captured weapons would not surprise anyone in wartime. We have witnessed the Ukrainian and Russian military capturing various enemy weapon systems. But the same “unidentified” French sources claim, according to a Donbas Insider, that the two Caesar self-propelled howitzers were sold, through an intermediary, by Ukrainians to Russians. The price, which is being discussed in tight circles, is $120,000 each. BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that the unit value of a Caesar self-propelled howitzer varies around the amount of 7 million euros.
A political analyst at BulgarianMilitary.com says that the possibility that the two howitzers were sold to Moscow is evident in the tone and ending of French lawyer and politician Régis de Castelnau’s words. “It is very clear to him [the French lawyer] that during the war, in addition to prisoners of war, the adversaries acquire different foreign equipment. This is war, some die, others abandon their positions out of fear, and others profit from the war. The end of the comment “Thank you Macron, we are paying’ suggests that Régis de Castelnau believes that the two howitzers were not abandoned and therefore captured, but sold. The irony is too strong in this particular case to ignore this fact”, says Dr. Sebastian Levi, correspondent, and analyst of BulgarianMilitary.com for the Middle East region.
Levy also says that he believes the two self-propelled howitzers were resold with the help of an intermediary, a military dealer. Levy, however, has no evidence for his claims but refers to his league reasoning.
However, sales are a fact
The feeling that corrupt Ukrainian servicemen are involved in the illegal arms trade to extract maximum profit is not from now, and it is not only about this case.
On June 2, BulgarianMilitary.com revealed the sale of at least one FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile system on the dark web for $30,000. The seller is unclear, but according to the information posted on the darknet, the location [where the system will be shipped or picked up from] is Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
“Ukrops are selling Javelins on the darknet. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resells equipment and weapons supplied by NATO to the Middle East and North Africa. Anyone with a TOR browser can buy this ATGM in the online store,” writes the pro-Russian Telegram channel ABS News.
Interpol knows
Interpol knows the illegal sale of arms by Ukrainians to Russians. The German online edition Overton-Magazin writes that concerns can be seen in the statements of Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General of Interpol, “who fears that the weapons will be handed over to criminal organizations. However, this is happening with the complicity of Western governments, which are not willing to put in place safeguards and vetting mechanisms for the use of these weapons. In fact, even the US intelligence services do not know where the weapons delivered to Ukraine are going.”
According to the German publication, a part of the weapons delivered to Ukraine were actually seized, but another part was resold by Ukrainian holdings, which are in the hands of Russian businessmen. Overton-Magazin even points to a specific case that should be investigated for illegal trade, and that is the downed Ukrainian helicopters that tried to evacuate Ukrainian soldiers from Mariupol. The investigation so far indicates that the helicopters were shot down by American Stinger anti-aircraft missiles donated by the Americans.
Here’s what the German publication Overton-Magazin wrote: “The Western narrative of the prophesied defeat of Russia and the victorious resistance of Ukraine is the main argument for promoting the deployment of weapons. It gives the impression that all that is needed is the ‘last little push’, to achieve victory. The reality, however, is not so romantic.”
………………………. And finally, let’s mention the most important fact that is known, but no one dares to talk about it: in order for such a sale to be carried out, the presence of strong corruption is necessary, especially among the military command and the lower officer ranks of the Ukrainian army. https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2022/07/05/ukraine-has-sold-two-french-donated-155mm-caesar-howitzers-to-russia/
Swiss population keen for nuclear bunkers, -but it’s doubtful that they’d be any use anyway.
‘A large-scale nuclear war would however be catastrophic, and no state would be able to guard against the effects.’
Companies are ‘overwhelmed with enquiries’ for NUCLEAR BUNKERS in Switzerland and reporting shortage of materials following Ukraine invasion
- Since 1960s, every Swiss municipality had to build nuclear bunkers for residents
- Residents are now contacting specialist companies to build or renovate shelters
- The bunkers are being viewed in a new light since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
By RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE and AFP 26 April 2022
Companies that build and repair bomb shelters are being ‘overwhelmed with enquiries’ for nuclear fallout bunkers in Switzerland, as Russian’s invasion of Ukraine has reawakened interest in the secure facilities.
Residents in Switzerland, where nuclear bunkers have been mandatory for every household since the 1960s, are now contacting the companies to build or renovate their shelters to make sure they can be protected in the event of bombings or nuclear war.
Demand is so high for the concrete nuclear bunkers that specialist companies are now facing shortages in raw materials required to build them………………………………………………………………….
Switzerland’s vast network of nuclear bunkers have a range of other day-to-day uses, including as military barracks or as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. But Swiss authorities require that they can be emptied and reverted back to nuclear shelters within five days.
So far, Switzerland’s population has never been ordered down into the shelters, not even in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster.
Experts say the most likely scenario for needing to use them has always been a possible accident at one of Switzerland’s own nuclear power plants.
But now the conflict raging in Ukraine has added a new, urgent layer to the national nuclear anxiety.
With public concern growing, Swiss authorities have published overviews of the available shelter spots, and have urged households to always maintain a stock of food to last at least a week. ………………………………..
Experts caution though that the level of protection provided by the shelters in the case of actual nuclear weapons use would depend heavily on the intensity and proximity of the strikes.
‘The shelters could offer the population a certain level of temporary protection against radioactive events,’ Swiss defence ministry spokesman Andreas Bucher said.
‘A large-scale nuclear war would however be catastrophic, and no state would be able to guard against the effects.’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10751447/Companies-overwhelmed-enquiries-NUCLEAR-BUNKERS-Switzerland-following-Ukraine-invasion.html
Switzerland plans to bury spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay
Straits Times SAINT-URSANNE, SWITZERLAND (AFP) 10 Apr 22, – Storing radioactive waste above ground is a risky business, but the Swiss think they have found the solution: Burying spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay.
The Mont Terri international laboratory was built to study the effects of burying radioactive waste in clay which sits 300m below the surface near Saint-Ursanne in the northwestern Jura region.
The underground laboratory stretches across 1.2km of tunnels.
Niches along the way, each around 5m high, are filled with various storage simulations, containing small quantities of radioactive material monitored by thousands of sensors.
More than 170 experiments have been carried out to simulate the different phases of the process – positioning the waste, sealing off the tunnels, surveillance – and to reproduce every imaginable physical and chemical effect.
According to experts, it takes 200,000 years for the radioactivity in the most toxic waste to return to natural levels……..
Three prospective sites in the northeast, near the German border, have been identified to receive such radioactive waste.
Switzerland’s nuclear plant operators are expected to choose their preferred option in September.
The Swiss government is not due to make the final decision until 2029, but that is unlikely to be the last word as the issue would probably go to a referendum under Switzerland’s famous direct democracy system.
Despite the drawn-out process, environmental campaigners Greenpeace say Switzerland is moving too fast.
“There are a myriad of technical questions that have not been resolved,” Mr Florian Kasser, in charge of nuclear issues for the environmental activist group, told AFP.
For starters, he said, it remains to be seen if the systems in place can “guarantee there will be no radioactive leakage in 100, 1,000 or 100,000 years”.
“We are putting the cart before the horse, because with numerous questions still unresolved, we are already looking for sites” to host the storage facilities, he said.
Mr Kasser said Switzerland also needed to consider how it will signal where there sites are to ensure they are not forgotten, and that people many centuries from now remain aware of the dangers.
Swiss nuclear power plants have been pumping out radioactive waste for more than half a century.
Until now, it has been handled by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, or NAGRA, founded in 1972 by the plant operators in conjunction with the state.
For now, the waste is being stored in an “intermediary depot” in Wurenlingen, some 15km from the German border.
Switzerland hopes to join an elite club of countries closing in on deep geological storage……………….
Following the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima power station in Japan, Switzerland decided to phase out nuclear power gradually: Its reactors can continue for as long as they remain safe.
A projected 83,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste, including some high activity waste, will have to be buried.
This volume corresponds to a 60-year operating life of the Beznau, Gosgen and Leibstadt nuclear power plants, and the 47 years that Muhleberg was in operation before closing in 2019.
Filling in the underground nuclear waste tombs should begin by 2060…….
The monitoring period will span several decades before the site is sealed some time in the 22nd century. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/switzerland-plans-to-bury-spent-nuclear-fuel-deep-underground-in-clay
Switzerland’s nuclear-war-readiness – bunkers for all
Nuclear bunkers for all: Switzerland is ready as international tensions mount , euronews, By Charlotte Lam & AFP 03/04/2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reawakened interest in Switzerland’s concrete nuclear fallout shelters, built during the Cold War with enough space to shelter everyone in the country
Nuclear bunkers for all: Switzerland is ready as international tensions mount , euronews, By Charlotte Lam & AFP 03/04/2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reawakened interest in Switzerland’s concrete nuclear fallout shelters, built during the Cold War with enough space to shelter everyone in the country.
Since the 1960s, every Swiss municipality has had to build nuclear bunkers for their residents – and they’re mandatory in large homes and residential buildings.
“I think this shelter system makes sense,” says Marie-Claude Noth-Ecoeur, who heads civil and military security services in the mountainous southern Wallis region.
“We remember the problems that occurred at Fukushima because there was a time when the Federal Chambers wanted to remove shelters but then Fukushima happened. We realise that there are nuclear power plants in Switzerland and in Europe. So yes, this is useful, it was designed for that and I think we must keep them, at least with what is happening in the world, we must keep them in a state of readiness.”
The shelters have become an integral part of the Swiss identity, on par with the country’s famous chocolate, banks and watches…………
The wealthy Alpine country has pledged that each and every resident will have a shelter space if needed. The country of 8.6 million people counts nearly nine million spaces across 365,000 private and public shelters.
But while there are more than enough spots at a national level, there are vast regional differences. Geneva is worst off, with only enough places for 75 per cent of its population.
Nicola Squillaci, head of Geneva’s civil protection and military affairs division, said the shelters were conceived to provide protection “, especially in the case of a bombing and a nuclear attack”…………..
Switzerland’s vast network of nuclear bunkers have a range of other day-to-day uses, including as military barracks or as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
But Swiss authorities require that they can be emptied and reverted back to nuclear shelters within five days. https://www.euronews.com/2022/04/03/nuclear-bunkers-for-all-switzerland-is-ready-as-international-tensions-mount
Scrutiny on Switzerland’s nuclear power industry- it gets uranium from Russia
Use of Russian uranium for Swiss nuclear power under scrutiny, Russia’s state-owned nuclear firm Rosatom helps fuel two nuclear power plants in Switzerland. That commercial link is now under scrutiny as the Western world puts financial pressure on Russia to stop its aggression against Ukraine. Swiss Info March 31, 2022
Swiss electricity company Axpo purchases fuel from Rosatom to operate the Beznau and Leibstadt nuclear power plants in canton Aargau.
In a statement published on Thursday, the environmental NGO Greenpeace urged the authorities of seven Swiss cantons – which own Axpo – to stop buying uranium from Rosatom.
This commercial relationship, the NGO argued, helps to finance Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Competitor company Alpiq, which runs the Gösgen nuclear site, stopped sourcing from Russia in 2016.
………………………………….. Of Switzerland’s four nuclear reactors, only Gösgen, operated by the company Alpiq, does not buy Russian uranium. Alpiq said this decision was taken in 2016 due to considerations about environmental compatibility and supply chain transparency………..
By paying for Russian uranium – Switzerland could also indirectly help finance Russia’s military apparatus. SRF points that Rosatom is the manufacturer of Russia’s warheads and now controls the operation of various Ukrainian nuclear power plants, such as at Zaporizhia, seized after fighting on March 4. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/use-of-russian-uranium-for-swiss-nuclear-power-under-scrutiny/47479722
City of Geneva calls for the closure of French nuclear station in Bugey
Boursorama 27th April 2021, Nuclear: the city of Geneva calls for the closure of the French power plant
in Bugey. Located about 70 kilometers as the crow flies from Geneva, it is
accused by the cantonal and municipal authorities of Geneva of causing
serious danger to the population because of its obsolescence.
Women in government – the key to getting rid of nuclear power
Nuclear withdrawal was thanks to women, says former energy minister, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/nuclear-withdrawal-was-thanks-to-women–says-former-energy-minister/46423854 5 Mar 21, Having four women in Switzerland’s seven-person 
government played a key role in the decision to phase out nuclear energy ten years ago, according to Doris Leuthard, who was energy minister at the time of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima on March 11, 2011.
The three other female cabinet ministers at the time were Micheline Calmy-Rey and Simonetta Sommaruga from the left-wing Social Democratic Party and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf from the centre-right Conservative Democratic Party.Leuthard, from the centre-right Christian Democratic Party, admitted that she didn’t immediately realise the scale of the disaster at Fukushima.
“My first reaction was to say that that’s very far away from us, in Japan, in a country that deals seriously and professionally with events of this kind. I didn’t realise right away that it was a major disaster,” she told Le Temps.
In an interviewExternal link with Swiss newspaper Le Temps on Thursday, Leuthard said she would have had a hard time convincing men on the political right to abandon nuclear power.
“I think women are generally more sensitive to the environment and to the risks to which the population is exposed. When safety is at stake, they are willing to look at new solutions, even if it means paying a little more. They were more quickly convinced that we could opt for a new energy mix,” said Leuthard, who stepped down from the government at the end of 2018.
Only gradually did it become clear how serious the disaster was and that Switzerland had to act. On March 14 the government imposed a moratorium on nuclear projects.
“It was a decision that had to be taken quickly because, at the time, we intended to replace the three oldest [nuclear] plants with a modern, new-generation facility. We had to carry out a new risk analysis and see whether we could maintain the nuclear option in our energy policy. We informed the owners of the Swiss power plants, who had submitted applications to build this new-generation facility. It was a difficult moment, as our decision could cause them significant damage. […] I must admit that I didn’t sleep very well for two nights.”
In the end Switzerland did decide in 2011 to phase out nuclear power, which supplies about a third of the country’s electricity production.
In 2017 Swiss voters endorsed a new energy law that aims to promote renewable energy by banning new nuclear power plants and reducing energy consumption.
In December 2019 the 47-year-old Mühleberg nuclear power plant near Bern was permanently switched off – the first of five Swiss nuclear power reactors to be decommissioned. The event was considered so important that viewers could follow the progress live on Swiss television.
1 This Month
of the week – Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition – Working together for the abolition of n\nuclear weapons – https://www.hiroshimadaycoalition.ca/
No Nuclear in Cwm Llynfi! Stop the nuclear power station near Maesteg.
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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