Italy’s Environment & Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto says the government aims to pass the necessary legislation to make Italy's return to nuclear power possible by the end of the current parliamentary term.
Italy was a leading nuclear power-producing country in the 1960s but chose to phase out all nuclear plants after a 1987 referendum following the Chernobyl disaster. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990. The fourth Berlusconi government attempted to launch a new nuclear power programme but that was also rejected by a referendum in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima accident.
Italy’s Lower House of Parliament has since passed two motions aimed at reversing Italy’s earlier decision to abandon nuclear energy. The text commits the government to “consider including nuclear power as an alternative and clean source of energy production in the national energy mix” so as to “accelerate Italy’s decarbonisation process.”
The current government believes the phase-out policy should be revised, given that nuclear energy has a low carbon footprint and there is a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet European and international targets for combating the climate crisis. Italy is also seeking to boost its energy security following the imposition of sanctions on cheap Russian energy in the wake of Russia’s 2022 so-called special military operation in Ukraine. Italy is looking to the possible development of small modular reactors (SMRs)
"Yes, we'll give it our all," Pichetto told Radio 24 when asked if the legislative framework for nuclear energy could be changed by the end of parliament. "This is this mandate of the government and of parliament. I am acting via a working group that must take care of the judicial framework. If you want to acquire a small, modular reactor, there has to be a compatible judicial framework.
He said the government was looking into the possibility of Generation 4 nuclear reactors. “There's talk of having the necessary conditions to produce these small reactors at the end of this decade," he noted. "That means we have to have everything ready in this parliamentary term." He referred to UK-based nuclear start-up company newcleo which has signed a raft of agreements with Italy and other countries and companies to support the development of its lead-cooled fast reactor design.
Support for a nuclear revival is also coming from the nuclear industry. In October 2023, Edison said it had the ambition of developing new nuclear power if the conditions are created for its return to Italy. “In particular, Edison aims to launch two nuclear plants of 340 MW each with SMR technology between 2030 and 2040, enhancing in particular the distinctive technological skills of shareholder EDF.
In March 2023, EDF, Edison, Ansaldo Energia and Ansaldo Nucleare signed a Letter of Intent for new nuclear development. The aim was to leverage the specific expertise of the companies to assess potential industrial cooperation for the development of nuclear power in Europe, specifically in the field of SMRs. The companies envisaged collaborating on the development of new nuclear power in Europe as well as promoting its deployment, in Italy. The aim of the agreement was to use the expertise of the Italian nuclear power sector, headed by Ansaldo Nucleare to support development of EDF Group's new nuclear projects.
Image: Italy's Enrico Fermi nuclear power plant
