Italy’s Minister of the Environment & Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, commenting on the newly formed nuclear company, NewCo, said “the agreement has been reached, now we need to fix the bureaucratic aspect”. Establishment of NewCo was agreed in February by multinational power company Enel, power generation supplier Ansaldo Energia, and defence company Leonardo. The partnership will focus on new nuclear technologies, with particular reference to small modular reactors (SMRs). The company’s team comprises Enel (51%), which will select the president and CEO, Ansaldo with 39% and Leonardo with 10%. The aim is to develop Italy’s first SMR and to undertake theoretical research and monitoring of fourth generation advanced modular reactors.
Construction activity will depend, among other things, on the adoption of a regulatory framework for nuclear generation. The project will be overseen by the Ministry of Economy & Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment & Energy and the Ministry of Enterprises with NewCo as the operating arm.
Addressing the recent Sole 24 Ore conference in Milan on Energy Transition and the Nuclear Industry, Fratin said: “We are talking about bringing together the knowledge of three major Italian companies. Enel is the large Italian company that built the last major nuclear power plant in Europe and manages those in Spain and South America. Ansaldo has practical experience of production at national level. It is involved in a series of experiments and research on new nuclear in collaboration with several countries. Leonardo is truly the centre of new technologies. This means creating a marriage that starts as a research and experimentation endeavour, but which can also involve both civil and military production.” He added: “In the future, Fincantieri, one of the largest maritime may also be added. Merchant traffic in the future, if we want to decarbonise, will have to use small reactors. Then there is also [energy company] Eni.” He concluded: We must work for Italy and on the nuclear front it means working to create the condition for the future of the new generations.”
Luca Mastrantonio, Head of Nuclear Innovation at Enel, told the conference: “We are a neutral utility and therefore we look at all the solutions to achieve the goal of producing and distributing electricity in the safest way possible. In this sense, nuclear power complements other renewable sources… but history has taught us that to be successful you need a systemic effort. Precisely for this reason we proposed the creation of NewCo … to be able to prepare ourselves organically for nuclear power.”
He added: “The first phase is a study phase of feasibility and selection of the best technology. Then there is a second driver of the first phase which is to prepare and qualify a supply chain for the future to perhaps extend beyond the national territory.” He recalled that Italy was one of the founders of nuclear power in Europe. “This must allow us to look to a nuclear future with optimism.”
