How ready is Switzerland for a nuclear disaster?

“Considering recent threats such as North Korea, are there any proposed changes to bomb shelter laws?"

This was a question sent in to us by Alex, one of our readers, when we asked them what sort of things they would like to know about Switzerland. Alex is not alone in fearing some kind of nuclear attack. In October, former US Defence Secretary, William Perry, told the Inteational Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe exteal linkthat the threat of a nuclear attack is at its highest level since the Cold War.

If Switzerland were to take a direct hit from a nuclear bomb, there would clearly be widespread devastation, as you can see by testing different types of virtual bombs at this google interactive siteexteal link. Experts seem to agree that you cannot prepare for a direct hit, you would simply have to react.

But what if a nuclear bomb were to be detonated somewhere else in the world, blowing a radioactive cloud over Switzerland? It seems that the small Alpine country is prepared for such a scenario, as it is for an accident at one of its five remaining nuclear power stations. The response would be similar.

Pascal Aebischer from the Federal Office for Civil Protection told swissinfo.ch that there was no perceived acute threat of a nuclear war that might affect Switzerland and, as such, “in the area of civil protection, no specific measures are being considered”.

He says civil protection measures are more geared towards “catastrophes and emergencies”.

His office has a federal centre of expertise for exceptional incidents, called the National Emergency Operations Centerexteal link, and a laboratory in Spiez with a monitoring and emergency task force to deal with a major nuclear or radiological event in Switzerland.

A general emergency exercise is carried out every two years in the vicinity of one of the four nuclear power plants. It involves a number of federal bodies in charge of emergency response, including the Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, and the Spiez Laboratoryexteal link. This year the exercise was held near the Mühleberg nuclear power station in canton Be.

A national network of sirens and shelters

Switzerland has more than 7,000 sirens for waing the population in a broad range of possible emergency cases, including a nuclear accident. These are tested annually on the first Wednesday of February. The ‘general alarm’ signal is sounded when there is a possible threat to the population. It signals to people that they should tu on the radio and follow the instructions of the authorities.exteal link

Jean-Marc Fellay from ORCOCexteal link, the local emergency planning organisation for nine villages in weste Switzerland, told swissinfo.chexteal link what would happen after an alarm sounded. “Depending on the type of incident, people would either be told to stay at home and close their doors and windows, or they would be told to go straight to a shelter.”

They may also be told to swallow a potassium iodide tablet. Every ten years, these are distributed to people living near nuclear plants, as a precautionary measure in the event of a nuclear accident. If taken in time and at the appropriate dosage, the pills block the thyroid gland's uptake of radioactive iodine.

It’s assumed that, if there were a nuclear incident necessitating use of the shelters, there would be time for the municipalities, cantons and the civil protection organisation to stock them up with food and water. Meanwhile, members of the public are advised to keep their own emergency supplies. Details are outlined in this govement pamphletexteal link.

Switzerland is unique in having enough nuclear fallout shelters to accommodate its entire population, should they ever be needed. This right is enshrined in the constitution:

In practice, when new houses and apartments are built without bunkers, the owners have to contribute a tax to their commune to secure a place in a civil defence shelter.

Jean-Marc Fellay showed swissinfo.ch what it was like inside a bunker in the village of Domdidier in canton Fribourg. This shelter is reserved for a 100-strong civil defence unit, and is big enough for 132 people.

After evacuation

“If there were a nuclear cloud passing over us, the soil would be contaminated”, Jean-Marc Fellay explains.

“The idea is that you would stay for up to five days in the shelter and then come out again, when it was safe.”

But what would happen if, after five days, the soil was still toxic? “I can imagine that the only answer is to leave. Go somewhere where the place is not contaminated”, Fellay told swissinfo.ch. But neighbouring countries could also be affected by a nuclear cloud, of the kind that passed over central Europe following the Cheobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine in April 1986.

Twenty years after the accident, Switzerland still suffered higher than normal rates of radioactivity, with up to 200 deaths from cancer being directly linked by the Federal Health Office.

Jean-Marc Fellay concludes, “We’ve never had to do an evacuation on a grand scale but, sadly, it’s something you have to think about”.

SWI swissinfo...