Why is Switzerland so busy repairing its vast network of nuclear bunkers?

There’s no point in having a nuclear bunker under your house if boxes of old Christmas decorations are blocking the door.

This is not an uncommon scenario in Switzerland, a country with an extensive network of Cold War-era nuclear shelters, both public and private, that double as storage units and have fallen into disrepair.

But escalating global conflict, coupled with increasing reliance on nuclear energy, has the country once again preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Switzerland is spending 220 million Swiss francs ($354 million Canadian) to make sure its shelters are in good condition and ready to accommodate the entire nine million Swiss population, if the need arises.

“Almost all the Swiss have a bomb shelter, which has been used for a long time as their own storage unit,” says nuclear expert Steven Herzog. As it happens Host Neil Coxall.

“Now there are reasons to rethink this.”

Nuclear flexibility ‘ingrained in the Swiss psyche’

Herzog is a professor at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, who previously worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

He says nuclear bunkers are “an integral part of the Swiss psyche.”

According to a 1963 Swiss law, all residents of the country, including refugees and foreign workers, are guaranteed a place in a shelter to protect them from bombs and nuclear radiation.

“In general, if you live in Switzerland, you know where your shelter is, you know where your neighbors are sheltering, and you have your own designated place,” Herzog said.

Some of these caches belong to public networks, but many are private and built under people’s homes.

“Over the decades after the 1960s, when they were mandated to have shelter spaces built into every home in these private shelters, it took on new meanings,” Herzog said.

“People use them as wine cellars. People use them as carpentry workshops. People use them as storage for Christmas decorations.”

When asked if he himself was in a Swiss bunker, Herzog replied: “Of course.”

“If you’re at a party and someone says, ‘Will you go into my wine cellar and have the next bottle of wine?’ “You’re going to the shelter,” he said.

Prepared and not paranoid

But in recent years, global conflicts and changes in the country’s energy policies have changed people’s priorities.

Nearly a third of Swiss electricity production comes from nuclear power. And this summer, the country’s Federal Council It reversed its 2017 decision to exit nuclear power.

Russia’s war on Ukraine – and its aftermath Seizure of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in that country -It also raised nuclear concerns in the country.

Louis-Henri Delaragiz, commander of civil protection in the canton of Vaud, says his office has received an increase in calls from residents concerned about shelters after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (A canton in Switzerland is the equivalent of a province in Canada.)

“Suddenly…we’re very much in demand by people who want to know: Where are the shelters, where is my place, is the shelter ready?” He said.

In this spirit, the government launched consultations last October to ensure Switzerland’s “resilience in the event of armed conflict” and to plan shelter development nationwide.

“In the coming years, the (Swiss) federation wants to remove some exceptions to the current rules and modernize some of the old shelters,” Delaragiz said.

This means making repairs to public bunkers and making sure there is enough space for everyone who needs it. It also means going door to door and checking private shelters.

Last week in the village of Bircher, Reuters followed civil protection officers dressed in orange as they inspected a hideout under an apartment building.

Someone tried to push the basement door shut but it wouldn’t budge. A vent installed between plant pots and stone decoration was considered suitable, but an escape tunnel filled with cobwebs led to a deep opening without a ladder.

“This shelter is not usable in the current situation,” team leader Gregory Fuhrer concluded.

He added that the owner will be given a year to fix the errors or else he will have to pay 800 francs ($1,287 Canadian) per place in a public shelter.

Herzog says the action is the result of “increased awareness and awareness” about nuclear risks in Switzerland, but it should not be confused with paranoia.

“Nobody’s panicking that they’re going to need shelters tomorrow or anything like that,” he said.

Delaragiz echoed that sentiment.

He added, “This does not mean that we are preparing for conflict. This is not the message. But we have a network of shelters and we need to maintain them and make sure they are operational.”

“In Switzerland, we have the foresight…. There is a Latin saying that says: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’”