More than half a century of atomic energy in Switzerland

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The history of atomic energy in Switzerland began in 1962 with the construction of an experimental reactor in a cave in Lucens, in the canton of Vaud. Keystone

In 1969, a problem with the cooling system led to the partial meltdown of the Lucens reactor, which was later shut down. The Lucens accident is considered to be one of the ten most serious civil nuclear accidents in the world. Keystone

In 1969, reactor number 1 at the Beznau power station in the canton of Aargau went into operation. In 1971 the second reactor went into operation. Keystone

In 1972 the Mühleberg power station in the canton of Bern was commissioned. This was followed by plants in Gösgen (Aargau) in 1979 and Leibstadt (Solothurn) in 1984. The latter is Switzerland's most powerful nuclear power station. Keystone

The National Cooperative Society for the Storage of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) was founded in 1972. Its aim: to find a safe place to store the waste permanently. Keystone

Waste from Swiss nuclear power plants is stored in the ZWILAG interim storage facility near Zurich, until a final storage site is found. Keystone

In the 1970s, the first anti-nuclear movements emerged. In 1975, hundreds of protesters occupied the construction site of the Kaiseraugst power station (Aargau). Keystone

Following the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, the Swiss government decided to abandon the Kaiseraugst project for good. Keystone

In 1977, thousands of opponents of nuclear power demonstrated on the site of the Gösgen power plant, which was to be commissioned two years later. RDB

In its underground laboratory at Mont Terri in the canton of Jura, Nagra is investigating the properties of opaline clay. The aim is to assess whether this type of rock permits the safe, long-term storage of waste in deep geological strata. Keystone

The Swiss people have spoken out on nuclear energy on several occasions. In 1990, for example, they accepted a ten-year ban on new power stations. In 2003, however, it rejected both the proposal to abandon nuclear power and the proposal to extend the 1990 moratorium. Keystone

The Wellenberg region in central Switzerland was one of the sites selected for nuclear waste storage. The project was rejected in a cantonal vote and then abandoned. Keystone

In 2011, following the Fukushima accident, Energy Minister Doris Leuthard announced the Swiss government's decision to phase out nuclear power plants. Keystone

In 2012, the Swiss Greens filed an initiative calling for Swiss nuclear power plants to be shut down after 45 years of operation. Keystone

In 2016, parliament adopted the Energy Strategy 2050, which envisaged a phasing-out of nuclear power, but did not set any target dates. Keystone

Mühleberg will be the first nuclear power plant in Switzerland to be decommissioned. Decommissioning will begin in 2019. Keystone

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Switzerland has five nuclear reactors, and Beznau I, in the canton of Aargau, is the oldest in the world. Atomic power accounts for a third of the electricity produced in the country, but it is also a source of controversy and political strife. These pictures show the main stages in the eventful history of nuclear power in Switzerland.

(Text: Luigi Jorio, swissinfo.ch; Images: Keystone, RDB).