“We are not talking about bicycles, but about Ferraris.” With this metaphor, the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin defended the bill that brings back the nuclear in Italy after the 1987 referendum. The text, just signed, is the outline of a enabling law which entrusts the government with the task of writing, within 24 months, the rules for building small modular reactors (SMR) lead-cooled, capable of burning nuclear waste and producing hydrogen.
Let's not demonize the past, but look to the future: these reactors are designed to be safe
Gilberto Pichetto Fratin
The goal? To cover up to 22% of the Italian energy mix by 2050, reducing by 17 billion euros the costs of decarbonization. An epochal change of direction for a country that, after Chernobyl, had buried the atom under the weight of two referendums.
Details of the proposal on the “new” nuclear in Italy: technology, safety and cuts to the past
The heart of the plan is a clear break with traditional nuclear power:
- No more concrete monsters: green light only for nuclear reactors third and fourth generation, like i SMR (Small Modular Reactors) and the AMR (Advanced Modular Reactors). These “submarine engines inside metal tubes”, as Pichetto describes them, promise reduced construction times (5-7 years) and intrinsic safety, thanks to passive cooling systems.
- Burn the waste: the new reactors will use spent fuel and radioactive waste, reducing waste volume by 90%. An attempt to answer the thorny question of national repository, still without a headquarters after years of controversy.
- A Nuclear Safety Authority: will replace the current Inspectorate, with independent supervisory powers. “It will not be a front body,” the minister assures, citing the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
But the real twist is the reworking of the referendums: according to the government, the 1987 and 2011 questions concerned obsolete technologies, such as “comparing a bicycle to a Ferrari”. A thesis supported by rulings of the Constitutional Court, which allow the legislator to ignore the referendum results if the technological context has changed. I imagine, however, that they do not prevent citizens from promoting a new signature collection.
Historical references: from the trauma of Chernobyl to the atomic temptation
Il referendum of 1987 is a ghost that hovers over the debate. After the Chernobyl disaster, 80% of Italians voted to close the existing power plants, including Caorso e Trino Vercellese. A collective trauma that made nuclear power a taboo, even though Italy had been a European pioneer in the 60s.
In 2011, the Berlusconi government tried to reopen the game, but the Fukushima disaster and a new referendum (with 94% of “no”) buried the project. Today, however, the post-Ukraine energy crisis and the decarbonization objectives have reopened the dossier. "In 1987 we were afraid of radiation, today we fear high bills and climate change", comments Laura Scalabrini, energy historian.
Future Implications: Between Promises and Fears, 3 Points to Consider
1. Clean energy or greenwashing?
The government insists on the role of nuclear as complement to renewables: “Without the atom, by 2050 we will need 10.000 more wind turbines to compensate for the intermittency of solar,” Pichetto says. But environmentalists object: “The EU includes nuclear in the green taxonomy, but the construction times are incompatible with the climate emergency,” he replies Luca Bonaccorsi by Greenpeace.
2. Energy security vs. geopolitical risks
Italy imports the 45% of the gas and the 100% of uranium. The new reactors could reduce dependence on Moscow, but would create a new link with uranium-producing countries such as Kazakhstan and Canada. Meanwhile, Enel e Ansaldo Energia are already collaborating with Westinghouse (USA) e EDF (France) to develop SMR technologies.
3. The social challenge: from “nimby” to consensus
The government aims to avoid “nimby” (Not In My Backyard) protests by locating the plants in disused areas or even in Albania, connected to Italy via submarine cable. But the problem remains the communication: “We have to explain that these reactors do not explode like Chernobyl,” he admits Alessandro Dodaro of ENEA, involved in the protocol with Edison and EDF.
Return of Nuclear Power in Italy: A Future Half-Written
The return of the nuclear in Italy It is a high bet, suspended between innovation and collective memory. On the one hand, technologies promise abundant and low-cost energy; on the other, doubts remain about times, costs (estimated in 50 billion euros for 2050) and waste management.
The stakes are clear: if Italy manages to balance progress and prudence, it could become a European model. Otherwise, it risks finding itself with unfinished reactors and a new abrogative referendum. As the philosopher wrote Umberto Galimberti: “Nuclear is not a technical question, but an anthropological one: to what extent do we trust our ability to control the uncontrollable?”.
The answer will come in the next few years, between implementing decrees, protests and (perhaps) a new vote. In the meantime, Minister Pichetto dreams: "In 2027, we will turn on the first light produced by the Italian atom". Let's see if it's true, or if it'll be another will-o'-the-wisp.