A broad Swiss coalition has collected over 125,000 signatures in support of a referendum against building new nuclear power plants—more than twice the 50,000 signatures required to force a national vote, the Nein zu neuen AKW alliance confirmed on Saturday.
The initiative opposes the counter-proposal to the citizens' petition "Jederzeit Strom für alle (Blackout stoppen)," which the Swiss Parliament approved by a razor-thin margin. The petition's sponsors have conditionally withdrawn their push, arguing the parliamentary counter-proposal already fulfills its core aim of lifting the ban on new nuclear power plants.
Behind the referendum effort are the Social Democratic Party (SP), the Greens, the Liberal Party of the cantons (GLP), factions within the centrist party, and numerous organizations including the Schweizerische Energie-Stiftung and Greenpeace Schweiz. The coalition accused the Federal Council and Parliament of pursuing policy detached from popular will, noting that past referendums had clearly favored a future based on renewable energy.
Organizers plan to submit the signatures to the Bundeskanzlei on October 6. If the referendum is officially recognized, Swiss voters could decide on the legislative change as early as February 28, 2027.
The Beznau nuclear power plant, operated by utility AXPO, was cited as an example of existing Swiss nuclear infrastructure. AXPO operated the facility in Döttingen, in the canton of Aargau, as of 2023.
