28-02-2025
Italy Takes First Step Toward Return to Nuclear Generation
(Bloomberg) -- Italy's cabinet has approved a new legal framework aimed at reintroducing nuclear power generation, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government looks to overturn a decades-long ban.
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Following years of debate in the country and repeated votes on the issue, the proposed new legislation marks the first concrete steps by Meloni's right-wing administration toward lifting the prohibition on nuclear generation. The legislation was approved at cabinet meeting on Friday.
The new framework sets out planning for fusion and power production from sustainable sources, according to a government document. It includes a call for the government to decide what technology can be used and where plants can be located.
The measure allows the government to adopt a series of legislative decrees and set up a framework aimed at allowing the drafting of a national strategic plan for 2027.
'With new generation nuclear power, together with renewables we will be able to achieve our decarbonisation objectives, guaranteeing full energy security for the country,' Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in a press conference in Rome following the approval.
The Environment and Energy Ministry will have at its disposal €20 million per year from 2027 to 2029 to invest in the plan, according to the document.
While Italy outlawed both production and use of nuclear energy in a 1987 referendum and a follow-up measure in 2011, Meloni's government has been lobbying for new nuclear-industry investments since it took office in 2022. Italy is also working on setting up a company to build small reactors, Bloomberg reported in September.
The energy crunch after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent spike in gas prices have given the nuclear issue new urgency. Italy has been working to diversify its sourcing, and Meloni has said that strategic autonomy in energy is a top priority.
Rome recently unveiled a €1 billion ($1 billion) plan for a subsea electricity connection with Albania, while its 'Mattei' initiative to strengthen ties with Africa is partly linked to bolstering energy security.
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