Unlimited risk: danger for Fribourg from Swiss nuclear power plants

A serious nuclear accident in one of the Swiss nuclear power plants close to the border would have worse consequences for Freiburg than for most Swiss cities. What's more, German municipalities are not nearly adequately prepared for accident scenarios. Experts warn of this in the new study "Borderless risk: The threat to southern Germany from serious accidents in Swiss nuclear power plants".

The public, and in particular the people in southern Germany who would be most affected by an accident, are not informed about the risks to their homes and health posed by Swiss nuclear power plants. This is why the EWS, the Trinational Nuclear Protection Association (TRAS) and .ausgestrahlt are inviting the public to a public debate on the safety deficits of the Swiss reactors and the risk of their overtime operation at the Jazzhaus in Fribourg on November 4.

In the event of a nuclear accident at a Swiss nuclear power plant, large parts of Baden-Württemberg and possibly even Bavaria would have to be evacuated if the weather conditions were right. Large areas in southern Germany and, depending on the weather, far beyond could become uninhabitable for decades. Such an accident would also lead to enormous radiation exposure for the population, with numerous radiation-related illnesses, long-term effects such as cancer and even genetic radiation damage, which would also affect future generations.

Cities and municipalities in Germany are currently not nearly adequately prepared for accident scenarios. On top of this, research by TRAS shows that not even the expansion of the evacuation zones around nuclear power plants decided in 2015 in response to the reactor disaster in Fukushima has been implemented.

The event will provide information about the real risks and discuss current and additional disaster prevention measures.

Speakers:

- Wolfgang Renneberg, former Head of Department for Reactor Safety at the Federal Ministry for the Environment

- Armin Simon, co-author of the study "Borderless risk: The threat to (southern) Germany from serious accidents in Swiss nuclear power plants"

- Harald Lotis, Mayor of Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl

- Christoph Glaisner, Regional Administrative Council Freiburg, Department 16 "Police law, fire department, disaster control, rescue service"

- Eva Stegen, EWS energy officer