Italy ready for return to nuclear power says Pichetto

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 3 - Italy is ready for a return to nuclear power, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said Tuesday.
    Italy abandoned nuclear power following a referendum in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster but Pochetto has said the time is ripe for the private sector to produce small latest-generation reactors with the help of government money.
    "If politics, entrepreneurship, and research come together to work in a scenario of common commitment, this means that our country is also culturally ready to return to nuclear energy production," Pichetto Fratin said in a video address to the Italian Nuclear Association (AIN) assembly.
    "The group chaired by Professor Giovanni Guzzetta will present a draft delegation law by the end of the year to define a regulatory path and a new governance scheme for the system," he said.
    "An Authority will be needed, it will be the (Italian Nuclear Security Inspectorate) ISIN, which will however be strengthened", Pichetto said. (ANSA).