Swiss citizens cast their votes Sunday to decide whether the country's five nuclear power plants should be taken off the grid by 2029. 
The referendum was initiated by the opposition Green Party and is supported by environmentalists, who argue that Switzerland is home to an ageing nuclear reactor fleet, and that a phaseout schedule is needed to prevent severe nuclear accidents. 
If voters choose "yes" in Sunday's referendum, it would force three of the country's five reactors to close next year, and the remaining two by 2029. 
The five plants currently generate 40% of Switzerland's electricity. 
The government has already decided to shut down the plants in reaction to the 2011 nuclear accident at Japan's Fukushima reactors, but its plan does not include a fixed end point. 
The centrist multi-party cabinet argues that the referendum plan would lead to imports of foreign nuclear and coal power plants, to make up for the lost Swiss production capacity. 
The referendum initiators, on the other hand, are confident that a phaseout would boost the alternative energy sector.

Source: QNA