Basel Area Nuclear Power Plant Malfunctions; Banner Year For Basel BLT; Concerns Rise Over Vagrancy at SBB; Swiss Fountain Of Youth Revealed

News For 24 May 2016     The scary news continues to come from the world's oldest operating nuclear power plant in Fassenheim, France just 40 kilometers across the border from Basel.  Apparently, a technical problem caused a shut down of the plant on Wednesday evening according to German media.  According to Electricite de France, there was no danger to the environment as a result of the malfunction, however, they declined to elaborate on the causes.  The controversial plant has been slated for decommissioning by 2017, although French premier Francois Hollande pledged during his political campaign a few years ago to shut the plant by the end of this year.  The plant has been the site of at least 4 major "incidents" since late 2009, and environmental and public safety groups are concerned about the location of the plant in a seismically active area.   ************************   The Baselland Transport AG or BLT, operator of the Basel area tram and bus lines, reported another year of passenger and revenue growth for 2015.  The transportation service delivered 53.5 million passenger rides, representing growth of 770,000 passengers or 1.5% over the prior year.  The system is serviced by 63 buses covering 162 kilometers of bus routes, and 96 trams working 65 kilometers of rail.  The BLT reported further success with its electronic, App based ticketing available on smartphones, having sold almost 100,000 tickets in the month of April, 2016 alone.  Total revenues at the enterprise were 96.3 million francs which is set to increase again this year, as the BLT anticipates continued passenger volume growth and a planned increase in tariffs later this year.  

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An SVP candidate, Lorenz Nagelin, has raised concerns that the vagrants and homeless that regularly gather outside the front of the SBB are an eyesore and creating a bad image of the city.  He has suggested that zoning and construction be undertaken to discourage loiterers from gathering there.  According to police spokesman Martin Schutz however, there is no cause for alarm.  In the statistics that the police gather, there does not appear to be an increasing trend of violence, public drunkenness, or disputes in which the police have had to intervene.  Mr. Schutz went on that it would be counterproductive to further marginalize those at the fringes of society.  However, Mr. Nagelin countered that those wishing to loiter outside the station should be directed to do so on the Gundeli, or back side of it.  Authorities have repeatedly stated that it is legally impossible to expel people from a public space simply for aesthetic reasons, and that the police are vigilant at the SBB to prevent criminal violations.

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And finally tonight, in the category of "yet another reason to live in Switzerland":  The World Health Organization released its annual World Health Statistics report last Thursday.  One of the most startling figures cited was that a man born in 2015 in the country could expect to live on average 81.3 years, 12 years longer than the global average of 69.1.  Furthermore, this puts Switzerland in the top spot compared to 194 other countries surveyed.  Although Swiss women ranked 6th for life expectancy globally, they can still also expect to outlive their #1 ranked male peers by 4 years on average.  In the context of other surveys that consistently rank the country tops for retirement and lifestyle, it seems Switzerland has mastered the art of growing old, and doing so happily.  In a sobering message, WHO director-general Margaret Chan noted that although there have been great strides recently in human longevity, most of the gains came from the reduction in needless death and suffering of young populations due to disease and suffering in developing nations.  She continued that the best hope for continued success was the continued growth of health care in those nations.