A step forward for 'sustainable' nuclear power in Italy, with the approval of the enabling bill in the Chamber of Deputies. But the road ahead is long.
The return of nuclear energy in Italy is, from today, a little closer. Though not by much, given that the new technologies it would be based on are still, at best, in the experimental phase — if not entirely on paper. The Chamber of Deputies has given the green light at first reading to the bill on so-called sustainable nuclear power, which would bring the atom back into national energy strategy: no large power stations on the horizon, like those left over from the 1980s experience, but small modular reactors (third-generation nuclear) and nuclear fusion (fourth generation). Between promises of decarbonisation and unresolved questions about nuclear waste, however, the debate has only just begun — also because the bill merely sets out a framework, delegating the government to build the entire regulatory structure for the sector within a year: from experimentation to the siting of facilities, from radioactive waste management to fusion research.
Italy is focusing in particular on small modular reactors (SMRs), considered more flexible, safer and faster to build than the large plants of the previous generation. Also on the table is research into nuclear fusion, still far from large-scale commercial application. According to government estimates, the first SMRs could become available within the next decade ("between 2034 and 2035 – explains the Minister for Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin – but in these matters research often sees sudden acceleration"), while fourth-generation reactors are not expected before 2040.
By those dates, nuclear power is expected to enter Italy's energy mix to contribute to the European decarbonisation and climate neutrality strategy by 2050. But the figures remain vague. In the Piano nazionale integrato energia e clima (Pniec), the share of nuclear power in the future energy mix is estimated at between 11 and 22 per cent: "a very wide range", the minister himself admitted. The number of plants also remains undefined. "I am firmly convinced of the future of this path, but if in ten years' time there is a more affordable, neutral and clean technology, I will be the first to change my mind," Pichetto declared at a press conference after the vote.
Among the most sensitive chapters of the text is the one on radioactive waste. The bill introduces the possibility of voluntary self-candidacy for territories interested in hosting plants and storage sites, with new rounds of strategic environmental assessment. It is an attempt to break a deadlock that has lasted for decades over the single national repository, by resorting to mechanisms of spontaneous adhesion rather than top-down imposition.
Opposition parties strongly contested the measure, arguing that resources should be concentrated on renewable energies, which are more technologically mature and already competitive on the market. But the debate in the Chamber raised another specific and contentious issue: the rejection of an amendment that would have committed the government to explicitly prohibiting the use of nuclear power for military purposes, both in research and in applications. The Ministry describes it as merely a technical rejection, due to the fact that it will be the implementing decrees issued subsequently that define the boundaries of action — but given the current climate, some concern remains.
