- Title: Swiss divided over quick nuclear exit
- Date: 25th November 2016
- Summary: BERN CANTON, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUEHLEBERG NUCLEAR POWER STATION MAN ON BOAT ON THE RIVER BY THE NUCLEAR POWER STATION NUCLEAR POWER STATION / HOUSES VARIOUS OF HOUSES WITH ELECTRIC LINES ON THE FOREGROUND LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MARKET ON CITY'S CENTRAL SQUARE MEMBER OF PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT CAMPAIGN DISTRIBUTING POSTCARDS ON THE MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT SECRETARY-GENERAL ILIAS PANCHARD SAYING: "How old is a nuclear power station is a key point, because almost everything can be repaired, replaced in a plant, but the reactor, the reactor vessel, and inside which the nuclear reactions happen. The problem is that the vessel is submitted to a lot of ion irradiation, of pressure, of heat. In the case of Beznau power plant, it's a nuclear vessel dating back to 1969, and this Beznau vessel has a thousand cracks, one thousand holes, hence this vessel's security guarantee is not assured anymore, and this is the main risk." PANCHARD CAMPAIGNING AND TALKING WITH A MAN PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTCARD READING WITH DRAWING OF MAN NAILING HORSESHOE GOOD LUCK SIGN ON CRACKED REACTOR (SOUNDBITE) (French) FANNY DAO, FROM LAUSANNE, SAYING: "It is not clean energy, it's an energy source which is dangerous, which can create major disasters, all the more that our nuclear power stations are really old, and nobody can object to that, and it is time to change." MEMBER OF PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT CAMPAIGN GIVING PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTCARDS TO A MAN PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTCARD SHOWING GUN REPRESENTING SWISS NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS WITH MAN ABOUT TO PULL THE TRIGGER AND SHOOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD / POSTCARD READING (French) "OUR POWER PLANTS ARE AT THE END OF THEIR ROPES" (SOUNDBITE) (French) PASCAL OULEVAY, FROM LAUSANNE REGION, SAYING: "I am totally in favor of this quick nuclear exit, because it is a technology which is now outdated. We know can resort to other technologies, like wind energy, solar energy, photovoltaic and thermic energy, with which can take the place of nuclear energy." VARIOUS OF MARKET MEMBER OF PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT CAMPAIGN GIVING PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT CAMPAIGN POSTCARDS TO A FAMILY (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANNE-MARIE ROHRER, FROM LAUSANNE, SAYING: "So what, you would rather buy coal-based electricity, in Germany? Or in France, where electricity is also produced with nuclear energy? So, what do we do? We are not ready at all. We are not ready to exit from nuclear energy." GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) PRO AND ANTI-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTERS POSTER READING (French) "YES TO NUCLEAR EXIT" / POSTER REPRESENTING NUCLEAR REACTOR CAUGHT IN A STORM PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTERS READING (French) "INACTIVE TODAY, RADIOACTIVE TOMORROW" AND "YES TO THE PLANNED EXIT" ANTI AND PRO-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTERS, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ANTI-EXIT POSTER READING "NO TO UNPREPARED NUCLEAR EXIT" / POSTER WITH GIANT "NO", SURROUNDED BY LIGHTNINGS BERN, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRADES AND CRAFTS SWISS UNION DIRECTOR HANS-ULRICH BIGLER IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRADES AND CRAFTS SWISS UNION DIRECTOR HANS-ULRICH BIGLER SAYING: "We will have to import energy. This means that when there is more demand for a resource, prices go up, that is one thing. The other thing is that we don't have the necessary networks to transport renewable energy, and this will also make our charges rise. And last, basic costs to produce coal electricity are higher than those to produce nuclear energy." GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-NUCLEAR EXIT POSTER READING (French) "TAKE OUT THE IMMIGRATION PLUG RATHER THAN THAT OF ELECTRICITY" BERN CANTON, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) MUEHLEBERG NUCLEAR POWER STATION MUEHLEBERG NUCLEAR POWER STATION SEEN AMONG HOUSES SHEEP MUEHLEBERG NUCLEAR POWER STATION SEEN IN THE DISTANCE
- Embargoed: 10th December 2016 10:58
- Keywords: nuclear power Muehleberg energy
- Location: BERN/ LAUSANNE/ GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: BERN/ LAUSANNE/ GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00159Y00G7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: On the campaign posters that have flourished across Switzerland in the past weeks, both sides promise a storm to come if citizens don't make the right choice. Switzerland votes in a referendum on Sunday (November 27) on whether to make a speedy withdrawal from atomic energy production.
For the pro-nuclear exit, if voters fail to agree, a nuclear accident is almost certain and the energy transition will remain a stillborn idea.
For those opposing the initiative, a victory of the other side would mean the end of the country's autonomy in power, as well as rises in costs for enterprises and a potential blackout.
Days ahead of the vote, recent surveys from the gfs.bern polling institute show the "Yes" and "No" camps are neck and neck.
Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and Germany's example, which shut 40% of its nuclear reactors after the catastrophe and will close the rest by 2022, the opposition Swiss Greens and Social Democrats have pushed for a vote on a quick nuclear exit, saying that Swiss nuclear power plants are too old to keep on working safely, and too close to urban areas, and that a speedy withdrawal would compel authorities to really develop renewable energies, hence ensuring Switzerland's energy transition.
"How old is a nuclear power station is a key point, because almost everything can be repaired, replaced in a plant, but the vessel, the reactor vessel, and inside which the nuclear reactions happen. The problem is that the vessel is submitted to a lot of ion irradiation, of pressure, of heat. In the case of Beznau power plant, its nuclear vessel dates back to 1969, and this Beznau vessel presents a thousand cracks, one thousand holes, hence this vessel's security guarantee is not assured anymore, and this is the main risk", pro-nuclear exit secretary-general Ilias Panchard told Reuters TV, while campaigning in Lausanne.
The initiative they support, if voted, would compel Switzerland nuclear plants, to shut down after 45 years in service. Three of the country's five nuclear reactors - Muehleberg, and Beznau I, the oldest nuclear power plant in the world, built in 1969, and Beznau II- would close by the end of 2017, followed by Goesgen in 2024 and Leibstadt in 2029.
According to the pro-nuclear exit camp, 40,000 projects that would boost renewable energies are waiting for federal funding, and if prioritzed would compensate the part of the nuclear electricity.
"It is not clean energy, it's an energy source which is dangerous, which can create major disasters, all the more that our nuclear power stations are really old, and nobody can object to that, and it is time to change," said Lausanne resident Fanny Dao, one of many Swiss who say it is high time the country starts its energy transition and gets rid of its nuclear stations.
"I am totally in favor of this quick nuclear exit, because it is a technology which is now outdated. We know can resort to other technologies, like wind energy, solar energy, photovoltaic and thermic energy, with which can take the place of nuclear energy," said Pascal Oulevay, adding that if Switzerland didn't take this opportunity to start its energy transition, it will never do so.
A few meters away in Lausanne, voices were expressed against a nuclear exit, due to fears of higher costs.
"So what, you would rather buy coal-based electricity, in Germany? Or in France, where electricity is also produced with nuclear energy? So, what do we do? We are not ready at all. We are not ready to exit from nuclear energy," Lausanne resident Anne-Marie Rohrer said.
Switzerland prides itself on the fact that two-thirds of its power is hydroelectric, from reservoirs in the Alps, but it also counts on nuclear energy for a third of its power output.
The government wants to phase out nuclear power eventually, but there is still no calendar for that. A quick exit would leave insufficient time to develop solar and wind-alternatives, it says.
Nor would Switzerland be nuclear free, due to a long-term nuclear energy supply relationship with France which relies on atomic power stations for three-quarters of its electricity. Last month, the energy minister has raised the prospect of blackouts if a referendum vote accelerates the process.
On the economic side, a union representing small and medium-scale firms is raising alarm.
"We will have to import energy. This means that when there is more demand for a resource, prices go up, that is one thing. The other thing is that we don't have the necessary networks to transport renewable energy, and this will also make our charges rise. And last, basic costs to produce coal electricity are higher than those to produce nuclear energy," the Trades and Crafts Swiss Union Director Hans-Ulrich Bigler told Reuters TV.
Poyry Management Consulting Switzerland has calculated that the impact on prices for consumers would be small as imports would be relatively inexpensive because of a German capacity surplus.
Should the Swiss initiative succeed, the nation's utilities have likewise suggested they would pursue almost $7 billion in "economic damages" from having to shut their plants before the end of their lifespan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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