Italy needs to develop a national energy policy that includes restarting its nuclear power programme as it seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and imports from Russia, the president of the Italian Nuclear Association (Associazione Italiana Nucleare, AIN) said.

Umberto Minopoli told a society conference in Rome called for government action as he mapped out key areas that need to be addressed on the path to restarting nuclear energy production in the country.

The first is the development of a national energy policy that supports a new mix including nuclear. This would improve the country’s energy security and reduce its dependence on imports from countries including Russia. Italy is the second largest net importer of electricity in the world, Mr Minopoli said.

He called for a national law that “supports, encourages and promotes” the participation of Italian companies in international small modular reactor and advanced reactor projects. “Italian industry and academia are already there, but autonomously, without the political support of the state, which is massive in other countries,” Mr Minopoli said.