Italy’s Senate has approved a government plan to restart nuclear power, nearly 40 years after the country’s 1987 phase-out. The government has 12 months to draft an executive decree covering reactor licences, safety standards, radioactive waste and site selection.
The government aims to deploy advanced modular reactors to decarbonise industry and strengthen energy security, rather than revive the large reactors of the past. Italy imports more than 90% of its total energy needs, and electricity rates rose about 80% in the past year.
A June poll found 51% supported restarting nuclear generation, but a majority opposed building a plant near their homes. Italy still has no permanent national repository for radioactive waste from its former nuclear program; waste is held at temporary sites around the country.
