Country profile: Switzerland

Summary figures for 2017

The following information is from the NEA publication Nuclear Energy Data, the annual compilation of official statistics and country reports on nuclear energy in OECD member countries.

Country Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh) Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Switzerland 5 19.9 32.4
OECD Europe127774.421.7
OECD Total3111 856.817.6
NEA Total 352 2 062.6 17.9

Country report

On 21 May 2017, a public referendum was organised on the new Energy Strategy 2050. The majority of the public voted to implement the new Energy Strategy. On 1 January 2018, the new Energy Act entered into force. The new legislation will fundamentally change the energy landscape in Switzerland.

Under the new law, no permits for the construction of new NPPs or any basic changes to existing NPPs will be delivered. The existing NPPs may remain in operation for as long as they are declared safe by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI), the entity that decides whether conditions for safe operation are being met. ENSI is an independent authority of the Confederation. The Mühleberg NPP will be permanently shut down by December 2019, for economic reasons.

In 2003, the Parliament passed a moratorium on the export of spent fuel rods for the purposes of reprocessing. This law was in force until June 2016. Under the new legislation, the export of spent fuel rods for reprocessing has been banned indefinitely.

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2018

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