Rome has signified a decade-long policy reversal eyeing advanced reactors
The Italian government aims to finalise a plan by the end of 2027 that would potentially permit the resumption of nuclear power generation in the country after a near-40-year ban, according to energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.
Fratin told the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview that Italy is prepared to reintroduce nuclear power as a “crucial choice” in its energy strategy, adding that the move signifies a complementary approach to renewable energy sources and is not an effort to substitute those.
Italy was once a pioneer of nuclear power and had four commercial nuclear plants – Caorso, Enrico Fermi, Garigliano and Latina – providing almost 5% of the country’s electricity production share at their peak in 1986-1987.
The country, however, banned nuclear energy after it was rejected in a national referendum following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and another in 2011 following the Fukushima-Daiichi accident. It shut down its last commercial reactors, Caorso and Enrico Fermi, in 1990.
Fratin said that a preliminary draft of the new legislation would be submitted to the cabinet for approval within the next two weeks.
He had earlier said Rome was planning to draft rules by early 2025 to allow the deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies.
In May 2023, the Italian parliament backed prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to include nuclear in the country’s energy mix as part of its decarbonisation efforts. The government has hinted of an interest in novel small modular reactor technologies as a potential way forward.
“At this time the debate on the possible options is open and we want to ensure a broad margin of action,” Fratin said, adding that implementation of particular courses of action will happen within two years of the entry into force of the new legislation.
In November 2024, Fratin said the government was in talks with energy groups Enel, Ansaldo and defence business Leonardo to set up a state-backed company to develop nuclear power plants in Italy.
In its latest energy and climate plan, the government estimated nuclear power could meet at least 11% of domestic energy demand in 2050. Fratin said the share can reach even up to 22%.
According to data by the International Energy Agency for 2023, Italy’s electricity generation mix relies primarily on natural gas (45%), hydro power (16%) and renewable (9% wind and 11.5% solar).
