The Council of States, the upper chamber in the Federal Assembly (parliament) of Switzerland, has rejected the introduction of a legal limit on the operating life of nuclear reactor and has rejected a proposal by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) of requiring operators to submit a long-term operating concept every 10 years once a reactor reaches 40 years of service. The house has also voted to impose a time limit on the federal renewable energy feed-in tariff subsidy scheme; in addition, some of the funds directed to wind and solar support will be switched to subsidise existing hydropower stations.
In 2014, Switzerland drafted an Energy Strategy 2050; the National Council energy committee proposed to require operators to submit plans for improving the safety of reactors after 40 years of service. This would have enabled reactors to continue operations for a further 10-year, with no limit to the number of 10-year extensions.