Italy’s Senate Approves ‘Historic Return’ To Nuclear Power
Written by NucNet
Thursday, 09 July 2009
Italy’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, today approved a package of legislation that gives the green light for a return to the use of nuclear energy in the country.
The Senate vote followed earlier approval of the legislative package by the lower house, Italy’s Chamber of Deputies.
NucNet understands that under the new law, the government will have six months to select potential sites for new nuclear power plants.
The chief executive officer of Italy’s Enel power group, Fulvio Conti, said the vote meant Italy had made an “historic” choice in favour of a return to nuclear power.
Mr Conti said the country now had a “strategic opportunity” to rebuild its technological, scientific and industrial infrastructure, which he said was essential in helping to stabilise the cost of electricity generation and tackle climate change.
Proposals to restart the country’s nuclear energy programme and pursue nuclear new build were announced last year following the election of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The proposals came more than 20 years after Italy’s nuclear programme was scrapped by a referendum.
Italy relies heavily on imports of electricity as well as domestic fossil fuels. The country’s one-unit Garigliano and Latina nuclear power plants were shut down in 1982 and 1987 respectively. Its remaining two units – at the Caorso and Trino nuclear plants – were closed in 1990 following the referendum.
Despite there being no domestic nuclear programme, Enel has been encouraged to look at ways of boosting imports of nuclear-generated electricity because the country’s reliance on mainly fossil fuels was resulting in high electricity prices.
In November 2007, Enel signed a formal cooperation agreement with Electricite de France, allowing it to take a stake in the Flamanville-3 European pressurised water reactor (EPR) being built in France.
Enel’s portfolio includes a majority shareholding in Slovakian utility Slovenské elektrárne, which owns Slovakia’s Mochovce nuclear power plant.
