A nuclear plant in Switzerland is to shut down as the nation seeks to get rid of nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

State-owned energy firm BKW said the Mühleberg nuclear facility, located around 17 kilometres from the Swiss capital Bern, will go offline in 2019.

The Swiss Government approved a phase-out of the country’s nuclear plants by 2034 and scrapped plans to build new reactors.

BKW intends to invest roughly 200 million Swiss francs ($222.67 million) to maintain and upgrade Mühleberg over the next six years.

The company said: “Investing in the plant’s long-term operation would have entailed high costs, the amortisation of which would have been too uncertain given the prevailing economic, regulatory and political conditions.”

Switzerland gets around 40% of its power needs from nuclear.

Last week the UK Government and EDF Energy agreed to a strike price of £92.50/MWh for the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.