Fukushima should be included in dictionaries as a by-word for hysteric reaction. Now it seems as though the entire world wants to shut down nuclear power stations and revert to renewable energy.

In theory, the idea is great. But the same can be said for communism – a great idea which failed miserably, so much so that Francis Fukuyama (not to be confused with Fukushima) called the collapse of communism as the end of history.

Renewable energy is a great concept and eventually we may get to a point whereby renewable energy is what powers the world. But it won’t happen anytime soon.

Take solar panels – a great idea, but they are still relatively inefficient (although great advances have been made). Wind power is another great idea, but an astoundingly large number of people don’t want the giant wind turbines anywhere near their house because they are unsightly (apparently) and make a lot of noise.

Erm, now that doesn’t leave us with much, does it? Well, hydro-electric power I hear you shout. True, and Switzerland’s power grid is supplied predominantly (more than 50 per cent) through this source. We’re lucky, we have mountains with a lot of snow melting away and indirectly powering our houses.

But another 40 per cent of the power supply comes from nuclear stations and the government has now decided to gradually shut them all down. I hope they have a plan to replace the obvious shortfall that will result in the grid. And I’m sure they will, but we will be forced to bear the staggering costs (billions of francs, apparently).

Sure, nuclear stations are not ideal, as Fukushima has shown. But really, who in his (or her) right frame of mind would build a nuclear station on a natural fault line, and in a place at risk of Tsunamis? That was the problem not the technology.

And just in case you were wondering, I live within a 20km radius of two nuclear stations. It’s a price I’m willing to pay to be able to come home and switch on all my electric stuff. Otherwise we can adopt some other system, like that used in Malta and enjoy countless power shortages and the pollution that comes with it, especially for people in the south of the island. The last time we had a power cut in Switzerland was… erm …well, we’ve never had one since I came here eight years ago!