“It is fairly easy to demand not using nuclear energy. But first one should talk seriously about what that would mean,” Leuthard was quoted as saying in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

“For that reason I have requested various exit strategies be worked out. How quickly could Switzerland exit nuclear energy? How would this be replaced? What would this mean for climate politics?,” Leuthard said.

Leuthard said that if Switzerland were to go without nuclear energy, it would have to build more gas power stations which would lead to a rise in carbon emissions.

Switzerland derived about 10 percent of its energy from nuclear generation in 2009, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

Leuthard, nicknamed “Atomic Doris” in the Swiss media, also said the impact of a nuclear exit on the grid may have been underestimated and that a big move by European countries to renewable forms of energy could result in grid instability.

Earlier this month, Switzerland suspended the approvals process for three new nuclear power stations so safety standards can be reviewed after a nuclear power plant in northern Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Many countries are starting to look at how they can lower carbon emissions in the fight against climate change and still meet energy demands as the future of nuclear power starts to look more uncertain.

Germany has said it will shut down all seven of its nuclear power plants that began operating before 1980 at least until June and has left open whether they will ever start up again after Japan’s crisis.

The country is aiming to boost renewable power and energy saving to make up for a shortfall of nuclear power.