In 2008 our Swiss nuclear power plants – Beznau 1 and 2, Gösgen, Leibstadt and Mühleberg – supplied more than 26.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, thus meeting nearly 40% of Switzerland's electricity needs.

Nuclear power stations generate electricity reliably, economically and climate friendly. Their production is reliable inasmuch as they continuously deliver a large amount of electricity to the supply grid. Nuclear energy is economical because it produces comparatively cheap electricity and the price is virtually independent of the price for the raw material Uranium. Finally they produce climate-friendly electricity: If one considers the CO2 emissions over the full cycle – from the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant, the mining of the Uranium, its enrichment and the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant right through to disposal of the radioactive waste – nuclear energy emerges as second best after hydroelectric power, followed by wind and solar energy.

The disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological repositories is technically possible in Switzerland, something that has been confirmed by the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat). The financial resources required for the deep repositories are guaranteed by the nuclear power plant operators. The question as to where the deep repositories should finally be positioned remains open. This should now be answered by the current broad-based political process – the "Sachplan geologische Tiefenlager" (Deep Geological Repositories Inventory Plan).

For more detailed information about nuclear energy in Switzerland go to www.kernenergie.ch.