Majority of Swiss Support Ban on Construction of New NPPs at Referendum

Over 58 percent of Swiss nationals supported in referendum the country's Energy Strategy 2050, encouraging development of renewable energy sources and ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants (NPPs), according to the preliminary results.

GENEVA (Sputnik) — Over 58 percent of Swiss nationals voted in a referendum on Sunday in favor of the ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the country, the preliminary results of the vote showed.

Thus, the Swiss have supported the country's Energy Strategy 2050, encouraging development of renewable energy sources. Final results of the vote will be made public later in the day.

The energy strategy 2050, developed shortly after the 2011 nuclear reactor disaster in Fukushima, Japan, focuses on using hydropower and other renewable resources such as solar and wind power. The existing and operating nuclear power reactors are expected to be decommissioned, however, after the end of their operating life cycle.

In November 2016, over 54 percent of the Swiss citizens voted against the country's Green Party's initiative to shutdown the existing nuclear reactors across the country and not to construct the new ones.

Swiss reactors provide a third of the country’s electricity. Environmentalists argued that safety of old reactors, in operation since the early 1970s, could no longer be guaranteed, while their opponents said nuclear phaseout could increase reliance on coal.