Aargau parliament votes to permit new nuclear plants.
Automated English translation, emphasis mine:
Aargau wants to allow new nuclear power plants in the future: The canton has revised its energy strategy. Parliament has now paved the way for new nuclear power plants. This is only two weeks after the Council of States gave the green light for the construction of new nuclear power plants. Three of the four active nuclear power plants are already located in Aargau: Beznau 1 and 2 as well as the Leibstadt nuclear power plant.
But more nuclear power: The Aargau parliament was committed to discussing the new energy strategy. The government originally planned that renewable electricity production with wind, water and photovoltaics in Aargau would be greatly expanded. However, the competent parliamentary committee demanded that Aargau continue to produce more electricity than it needs itself. The Aargau should produce electricity for the whole of Switzerland, with "low-CO2 production". The bourgeois majority of the Grand Council wrote the goal of "technology-open production" in the paper. This also means the new construction of a nuclear power plant.
The Beznau nuclear power plant is an electricity supplier for the whole of Switzerland. Just like the KKW Leibstadt, which is also located in Aargau.
Kniff paves the way for nuclear power plants: In the original goal of the energy strategy, the government said that it wanted to increase "renewable energies" from 3.7 to at least 6 terawatt hours by 2036. Currently, the Aargau produces around 15 terawatt hours of electricity, mainly nuclear power. Now the government was reverting under pressure from the Grand Council. The new goal is to produce a good twice as much electricity per year from "low CO2" sources by 2035. This indicates the construction of a new nuclear power plant. Beznau 1 and 2 will be shut down in about 2032.
The construction of a new nuclear power plant would take around 15 years, electricity companies and the Energy Commission of the Academy of Sciences estimate.
Heated discussions in parliament: "We need nuclear energy. Of course the people still decide, but the Aargau is ready," said Pascal Furrer (SVP). "An energy future with photovoltaics and wind alone cannot be secured," some said. "Anyone who believes that we can ignite a nuclear express is denying reality," others said. "The technologies will be decided in Bundesbern. It can go in the direction of new nuclear energy, it can also go temporarily in the direction of gas," said Aargau Energy Director Stephan Attiger (FDP) in the council.
Left-Green rarely has a chance: SVP/EDU and FDP have an absolute majority in the Aargau parliament. This means that if they vote together, the other side has no chance to bring its own concerns through. The Grand Council decided on the goal of low-carbon electricity production with 89 to 44 votes. The bourgeois majority of SVP, FDP and Mitte was in favor, Left-Green against.
It will take time until new nuclear power plants are set up: It is currently forbidden in Switzerland to build new nuclear power plants. However, the "Blackout Initiative" and a counter-proposal from the Federal Council would like to lift this new construction ban. The Swiss electricity producer Axpo, based in Aargau, assumes that there will be no new nuclear power plant before 2050. Axpo estimates the construction costs at 7 to 10 billion francs. Who would finance a new nuclear power plant is open. A report by the Energy Commission of the Academy of Sciences in 2025 concluded that it would probably not work without funds from the public sector.