A group of Swiss politicians has formed ‘Stop Blackouts’ which will begin collecting signatures for a petition to review the country’s energy policy to ensure adequate energy supplies and keep nuclear power in the mix.
Switzerland plans to shut down its five nuclear reactors following a decision taken in 2017 due to safety concerns following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and has already shut down one reactor.
Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, its constitution can be changed by referendum if 100,000 signatures are collected within 18 months, although the result takes years to materialize.
Stop Blackouts said it plans to launch its initiative the day after tomorrow, Tuesday. Five of the group’s six committee members are MPs from centrist and right-wing parties.
“Until recently, Switzerland has had safe and virtually carbon-free electricity generation: the environmentally friendly and climate-friendly combination of hydroelectric and nuclear power is about to be abandoned for absolutely no reason,” the Stop Blackouts website states.
“We can’t do without nuclear power plants,” Vanessa Meri, president of the Stop Blackouts committee and its only non-political member, told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.
The constitutional change sought by the group would make Bern officially responsible for securing energy supplies, using “any form of climate-friendly electricity generation”.
On Tuesday the government will announce a plan to deal with potential energy shortages due to the war in Ukraine, which is expected to prioritize voluntary cuts by consumers. Switzerland produces more energy than it consumes but depends on imports from neighboring countries in the winter.
The country could resort to rolling four-hour regional blackouts if there are shortages, a senior utility sector official said in July.
The gas crisis is also leading neighboring Germany to consider extending the lives of its three remaining nuclear plants.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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