Swiss nuclear power plants

Economic efficiency

Swiss nuclear power plants contribute to the country's security of supply as long as they can be operated safely and economically. The fact that the energy supply should be economical is enshrined in the Federal Constitution and the Energy Act. The latter mentions cost transparency and competitiveness as the basis for an economical energy supply. This interest is shared by the state and the owners of the nuclear power plants, over 80 percent of which are publicly owned (cantons, cities, power plants).

Low production costs for the benefit of the Swiss economy

In accordance with the polluter-pays principle enshrined in law, the production costs include all costs associated with nuclear energy. They have been between 4 and 7 centimes per kilowatt hour for years. Swiss nuclear power plants therefore not only produce predictable, but also affordable and price-stable electricity. This electricity is of great value, especially during the winter break, when Switzerland is dependent on imports.

Low full, environmental and system costs

The economic viability of nuclear energy can only be objectively assessed by taking a holistic view of the entire power generation system. In addition to the production costs (capital and operating costs), this consideration also takes into account the system costs (costs for grid infrastructure and stabilization as well as storage costs) and the environmental costs (emissions, resource consumption, etc.). Production, system and environmental costs together make up the so-called true costs of each energy source. Nuclear energy has only low environmental costs: Low land consumption, virtually CO2-free operation and very low resource consumption. The system costs of nuclear energy are also very low, as it does not require backup and storage systems or even new grid infrastructure. From this perspective, nuclear energy scores with very low full costs overall.

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Q&A Profitability

What is included in the prime costs?

The production costs of electricity from a Swiss nuclear power plant are included:

All expenses for the operation of nuclear power plants;
All insurances;
All costs for the decommissioning of the facilities and the interim storage and disposal of all waste (including the timely provision and operation of a deep geological repository until its final closure);
Around 90 percent of the expenses of the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) and the costs of the necessary preparatory work (e.g. research and geological investigations);
Around 95 percent of the expenses of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI);
The expenses that the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) has for Swiss nuclear power plants;
The costs for the distribution of iodine tablets and for the creation and operation of the monitoring networks that control the emissions of nuclear power plants into the air and water.
The nuclear power plant operators bear all the costs of nuclear energy.

What needs to be considered in connection with the prime costs?

The production costs for the nuclear power plants Gösgen and Leibstadt are reported using two values: the actual costs and the normalized costs. The annual fluctuation in the value of the decommissioning and waste disposal funds influences the annual and therefore also the production costs per kilowatt hour. For this reason, normalized annual and production costs are also calculated in addition to the effective costs in order to improve comparability and estimate the operating result of a nuclear power plant.
It should be noted that the investments made by nuclear power plants can lead to minor fluctuations in production costs. Fuel costs are another special feature. In the case of nuclear energy, the pure uranium costs only account for around five percent of the production costs.