Academies widen cost range for new Swiss nuclear plant
Friday 21st August 2026 on 18:45 in
Switzerland
A new Swiss nuclear power plant could cost between 14 billion and 43 billion Swiss francs, according to a research network of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, SRF reported in an analysis by Klaus Ammann. The upper estimate is more than three times the lower one.
The lower estimate includes financing costs and is broadly in line with earlier studies considered realistic. Previous studies have also suggested that a plant could theoretically cost around 8 billion Swiss francs, eight times less than the academies’ highest estimate.
The central question is whether building more nuclear power plants would reduce costs. The energy company Axpo and the research institutions ETH Zurich and PSI believe significant savings are possible. They argue that each new plant built in Europe could lower the cost of a future plant in Switzerland, pointing to cheaper construction in China and South Korea.
Researchers in the academies’ network consider these savings very limited. They point to nuclear projects currently under construction or recently completed in Europe and the United States, which have consistently exceeded their schedules and budgets by wide margins.
Reliable comparisons are also difficult because few new nuclear plants have been built recently in Europe and the United States. The regulatory and financial conditions in China, Russia and South Korea are not comparable with those in Switzerland.
The researchers also said the estimates were being prepared for a fundamental decision on a highly polarising technology. Supporters say nuclear power can ensure climate-friendly security of supply, while opponents consider it dangerous, unnecessary and too expensive.
The latest study mainly shows that precise cost calculations are currently impossible. The uncertainties, and the potential burden on taxpayers, amount to tens of billions of Swiss francs. The findings are therefore unlikely to make it easier for supporters of lifting Switzerland’s ban on new nuclear power plants.