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It's a special birthday this September 1st, since it's the oldest nuclear power station in the world. The Swiss power station in Beznau celebrates 50 years of activity, in a country that has officially renounced the atom. But the exit of nuclear delays a little for its detractors. And Beznau does not escape criticism.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche
The first concerns go back to 2015, when a thousand tiny holes were discovered in a steel pressure vessel of Beznau's No. 1 reactor. A defect of origin, according to the operator, but which led to the shutdown of the reactor. It only restarted last year, after three years of work and the green light from the Federal Inspectorate of Nuclear Safety. But associations like Greenpeace denounce the lack of transparency on the real state of the facilities of Beznau. Residents who question the reliability of the plant in the event of an earthquake brought the case to justice.
The Swiss, however, voted in 2017 for the exit of the nuclear power, prohibiting the construction of new plants. But the government's 2050 energy strategy does not include a deadline for unplugging the country's four facilities. The debate goes beyond Swiss borders, since the canton of Geneva, which has already gotten rid of nuclear energy, has been fighting a court battle for the closure of another aging plant. That of Bugey, less than 70 km, in neighboring France.