Decommissioning
The Federal Nuclear Energy Act stipulates that the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant must be carried out within the framework of a public procedure. Accordingly, their operators are required to submit a decommissioning plan to the SFOE. As the authority responsible for the decommissioning procedure, the SFOE implements it in cooperation with the relevant specialised federal and cantonal agencies. This procedure begins with the official publication of the decommissioning plan. Anyone who is affected by the decommissioning is entitled to submit a formal objection to the SFOE, which then drafts a decommissioning order for the attention of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC).
BKW Energie AG took the Mühleberg nuclear power plant off the grid on 20 December 2019 and definitively decommissioned it on 15 September 2020. With this step the licence regime changed from operating licence to decommissioning order.
On 4 December 2024, following extensive investigations, Axpo decided that Unit 2 of the Beznau nuclear power plant should remain connected to the grid until 2032 and Unit 1 until 2033. After that, they will be permanently shut down and decommissioned.