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Life extension approved for Swiss NPPs
Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved a report confirming that extending the lifespans of the Gösgen and Leibstadt NPPs up to 80 years is technically viable and economically profitable. This advances the country’s energy outlook well beyond the previously anticipated 60-year operational horizon. The federal government
report, released by the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat) in May, was directly commissioned by a Senate postulate (parliamentary motion) to analyse the long-term energy policy and future electricity mix of Switzerland. It incorporates two key supporting studies conducted by external consultancies. Frontier Economics evaluated the economic profitability and market scenarios and Siempelkamp NIS assessed the technical feasibility and upgrade frameworks. Upgrades are estimated to cost between
CHF0.7bn and CHF1.2bn ($0.9-1.5bn) per plant, distributed over a 36-year timeline. The Federal Council explicitly noted that operators can absorb these upgrade costs independently without financial support from the state. Swiss nuclear plants hold unlimited operating
licences. They are legally permitted to run indefinitely, provided the operators prove to the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) that they fulfil all safety standards during major reviews every 10 years. A definitive choice on whether to initiate these
long-term extensions for the Gösgen plant must be finalised by 2029. This standard-setting pivot away from a phase-out framework is driven by concerns over winter energy gaps and national climate goals. Switzerland’s nuclear phase-out policy was
legally imposed in January 2018, when the revised Nuclear Energy Act entered into force. The catalyst for this was the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan after which the government resolved to stop building replacement reactors. This set a course for a slow, gradual wind-down of Switzerland’s active nuclear energy production as the existing reactors reached the end of their operating lifespan. The policy was approved by referendum in 2017. Switzerland’s policy shift began in August
2024 and progressed into legislative rollbacks through 2025 and 2026. The reversal was triggered by a popular public initiative launched in early 2024 called “Electricity for all at all times (Stop Blackouts)”. The petition gathered 129,000 signatures, legally forcing the Swiss government to
Gösgen is one of two Swiss nuclear power plants where a lifespan of up to 80 years is technically viable and economically profitable. Source: Alpiq
address the issue. Rather than letting a public initiative rewrite
the Swiss Constitution, the Federal Council chose to pre-emptively draft its own legal counter- proposal to safely bring nuclear energy back into Switzerland’s long-term mix. Lawmakers have until August 2026 to finalise the legislative text. The final, binding reversal will likely be decided by Swiss citizens in a nationwide referendum scheduled for 2027. Beyond life extensions, Switzerland’s upper house of parliament, the Council of States, recently also voted to lift the blanket ban on building entirely new nuclear facilities. The Federal Council’s report leaves open a framework for a new 1.6 GWe reactor by 2050 if renewable energy expansion fails to meet rising domestic electrical demands. Switzerland has three operational NPPs hosting
a total of four reactors, providing 30-40% of the nation’s electricity. The Beznau plant comprises two 365 MWe pressurised water reactors (PWRs) commissioned in 1969 and 1971. The single-unit Gösgen NPP is a 1,010 MWe PWR commissioned in 1979. The single-unit Leibstadt NPP is a 1,233 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) commissioned in 1984. Switzerland previously operated a fifth commercial reactor at Mühleberg (a 373 MWe BWR) that closed in 2019 and is undergoing decommissioning. The Federal Council’s report focused exclusively
on Gösgen and Leibstadt due to two primary technical and strategic factors. Prior to this study, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy had already thoroughly validated the technical safety and financial feasibility of running the nuclear fleet for up to 60 years. Because Gösgen and Leibstadt were previously assumed by operators to be economically viable for only 60 years, the government specifically needed to investigate if a further 20-years would be feasible. Beznau excluded from this specific 80-year study because it is already rapidly approaching its 60-year operating limit (2029 and 2031).■
round up
NEW BUILD THE FIRST CONCRETE was poured into the base of the reactor building of unit 4 at China’s Taipingling NPP in Huizhou, Guangdong province. This is the fourth of six Hualong One ( HPR1000) reactors planned for the site. China General Nuclear (CGN) said in a statement this marks the launch of full-scale construction of unit 4 and the start of the civil engineering phase.
POLISH NUCLEAR POWER Plants (PEJ - the opinion of the President of the National Preliminary Location Report for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location for Poland’s first NPP. This report – the first of its kind in Poland – is a preliminary assessment of the selected location in terms of nuclear safety and radiological protection.
ONTARIO HAS DIRECTED the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to enter into a cost-sharing agreement enabling Bruce Power to advance critical pre- development work on the Bruce C nuclear CAD300m ($220m) in costs for activities proposed expansion of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Tiverton, Ontario, designed to add up to 4,800 MWe of new nuclear generating capacity.
INDIA’S ATOMIC ENERGY Regulatory Board equipment installation to begin at units 5&6 of the Kudankula NPP in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. This allows the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited equipment, including reactor pressure vessels, steam generators, coolant pumps etc.
WORK AT THE CONSTRUCTION site of the Paks-II NPP in Hungary is proceeding on schedule in accordance with the approved timeline, according to Vitaly Polyanin, Vice-President of Atomstroyexport (Rosatom’s Engineering Division) and construction site continues at unit 5, and we are preparing a working pit for unit 6” Polyanin told reporters.
EGYPT’S NUCLEAR POWER Plants Authority (NPPA) has announced the delivery to the El-Dabaa NPP of the steam turbine condenser for the first unit of the plant. The 1,500 tonne condenser was manufactured by Energyen at their Gonsan facility in South Korea. NPPA said the arrival of this key equipment opens the way for the start of subsequent assembly and installation operations within the turbine building.
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