Japan disaster not seen as threat for Switzerland

The nuclear disaster in Japan currently poses no threat to Switzerland, according to the Federal Civil Protection Office.

At a media conference in Bern on Thursday, director Willi Scholl said that he and his colleagues had prepared a report describing the potential effects that the nuclear accident in Japan could have on Switzerland.

The Swiss government will review the report on Friday. Some potential risks could include aircraft, passengers or goods contaminated with radiation.

Scholl emphasised the fact that the Civil Protection Office had only drawn up plans on how to handle a nuclear emergency, but that the situation in Switzerland was still normal.

Meanwhile, Hans Wanner, director of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, described the Japanese efforts to stabilise the situation as “a race against time”.

“We can only hope,” Wanner told Thursday’s media conference.