Italian Senate approves return to nuclear power, EDF targets first reactor in 2035

Italy’s Senate has given final approval to an enabling law on nuclear energy. Giorgia Meloni’s government now has a year to prepare the implementing regulations. According to the minister, the first reactors could be built in 2033 to 2034, while the EDF group and its Italian partners are targeting 2035. Critics question the costs and timeline, calling the law an election campaign ploy.

Since the 1960s, Italy operated four nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 1 423 megawatts electric, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It shut down the last two after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. An attempt to return to nuclear power in the new millennium was halted in 2011 by the Fukushima accident and a referendum in which 94% of voters rejected new construction.

A 2021 opinion poll showed that around a third of Italians were in favour of reconsidering the use of nuclear energy. At the same time, more than half of respondents did not rule out the future use of new advanced nuclear technologies.