Environment and Energy Security
Minister Gilberto Pichetto said Thursday that the government
aims to pass the necessary legislation to make Italy's return to
nuclear power possible by the end of the current parliamentary
term.
Italy closed its nuclear plants in 1990 after the 1987
referendum on atomic energy following the Chernobyl disaster.
However, Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration says this
policy should be revised, given that nuclear energy has a low
carbon footprint and there is a need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to meet European and international targets for
combating the climate crisis.
The country is also looking to boost its energy security
following the war caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Yes, we'll give it our all," Pichetto told Radio 24 when asked
if the legislative framework for nuclear energy could be changed
by the end of parliament.
"This is this mandate of the government and of parliament.
"I am acting via a working group that must take care of the
judicial framework.
"If you want to acquire a small, modular reactor, there has to
be a compatible judicial framework".
He said the government was looking into the envisioned IV
generation of nuclear reactors.
"There's talk of having the necessary conditions to produce
these small reactors at the end of this decade," Pichetto said.
"That means we have to have everything ready in this
parliamentary term".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
