Swiss lower house of parliament votes to phase out nuclear power

In response to the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, Switzerland's National Council, the country's lower house of parliament, has voted 101 to 54 to phase out nuclear power, World Nuclear News reports. This follows a Swiss Cabinet decision to reverse course, and not replace old atomic reactors with new ones -- effectively phasing out nuclear power in Switzerland by 2034. The upper house of parliament, the 46 member Council of States, must still vote on the matter. If it approves the phase out policy, then Switzerland will join the likes of Germany, which plans to phase out its atomic reactors by 2022, as well as Italy, which has just reaffirmed, by popular referendum, it's moratorium on new atomic reactors. Austria also disavowed nuclear power in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe not far from its border with Ukraine.