Why is Switzerland busy repairing its extensive 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, which had an extensive network of both public and private nuclear shelters during the Cold War, many of which were used as storage units and fell into disrepair.

However, the increase in global conflict and the increase in dependence on nuclear energy forces the country to prepare for the worst scenario again.

Switzerland is spending 220 million Swiss francs ($354 million) to make sure its shelters are in top condition and ready to accommodate all nine million Swiss residents if needed.

“Almost all the Swiss have a bomb shelter, and this shelter has been used as their storage unit for a long time,” said nuclear expert Stephen Herzog. As it is host Nil Koksal.

“Now there are reasons to rethink that.”

Nuclear Resilience ‘Built in Swiss Psyche’

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

According to him, nuclear bunkers are “built into the Swiss psyche.”

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

“Generally, if you live in Switzerland, you know where your shelter is, you know where your neighbor’s shelter is, you have an assigned location,” Herzog said.

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

“In the decades since the ’60s, when it became mandatory to have these shelters built into every home in these private shelters, they took on new meanings,” Herzog said.

“People use them as wine cellars. People use them as woodworking shops. People use them as storage for Christmas decorations.”

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

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

Prepared, not paranoid

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

About a third of Switzerland’s electricity generation comes from nuclear power. This summer, the Federal Council of the country reversed its 2017 decision to phase out nuclear power.

Russia’s war against Ukraine – and what followed seizure of that country’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant — also raised nuclear concerns in the country.

Louis-Henri Delarageaz, the Vaud canton’s civil defense commander, says his office has received a surge in calls from worried residents about shelters since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. (A canton in Switzerland is equivalent to a province in Canada.)

“Suddenly… we were really hounded by people who wanted to know: where were the shelters, where is my place, is the shelter ready?” he said.

In that spirit, the government launched consultations in October to ensure Switzerland’s “resilience in the event of armed conflict” and plan to improve nationwide shelters.

“In the coming years, the (Swiss) Confederation wants to remove some exceptions to the current rules and update some old shelters,” Delarageaz said.

This means repairing public bunkers and ensuring that there is adequate space for everyone who needs it. It also means going door-to-door, checking private shelters.

In the village of Bercher last week, Reuters followed civil defense officers in orange overalls inspecting a bunker under a block of flats.

One of them tried to push the bunker door to seal it, but it didn’t budge. An air outlet wedged between plant pots and stone trim was deemed appropriate, but an escape tunnel filled with cobwebs led to deep hatches with no ladder.

“This shelter is unusable in its current state,” team leader Gregory Führer concluded.

The owner will be given a year to fix the deficiencies or have to pay 800 francs (Cdn 1,287) for each resident’s place in the public shelter, he said.

Herzog says the case is the result of “increased awareness and awareness” of nuclear risks in Switzerland, but not to be mistaken for paranoia.

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

Delarageaz echoed that sentiment.

“It doesn’t mean we’re preparing for conflict. That’s not the message. But we have a network of shelters and we need to maintain them and make sure they’re operational,” he said.

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