Italy and Nuclear, an Endless Debate : EcoWorldly

With escalating oil and gas costs and growing French electricity imports, Italy is changing is stance on nuclear power. The re-elected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised on his campaign to recommit the country to nuclear power and an heated debate is now popping up from north to south.

The general impression is there is still strong local opposition for three main reasons: high construction costs, projected build times of one to two decades and no identifiable Italian community willing to see a nuclear reactor built in their neighborhood. Italy has also failed to resolve the issue of what to do with nuclear waste. A proposed dump in Basilicata region was shelved in 2003 after thousands of demonstrators staged road blocks, marches and hunger strikes.

Italy has not operated or built a nuclear power plant since it shut them all down after the Chernobyl accident of 1986. And recent problems at nuclear power stations in Slovenia and Japan have confirmed for many Italians that living close to a plant is a health hazard. The managing director of Enel, the government-backed firm most likely to build and operate the proposed reactors, warned that in order to proceed Silvio Berlusconi would need "new regulation and strong agreement on the plan within the country".

Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola recently announced a national energy strategy that includes the construction of new generation reactors within five years. Enel officials, though, noted that it would take seven to 10 years before they could actually bring a reactor on line. Politics believe nuclear power is the country's only viable option and that the amount of extra energy produced through wind, solar and geothermal is limited.

"Only with nuclear power we will be able to produce energy on large scale, in a safe way, at competitive prices and with respect for the environment", Scajola said. But Italy's nuclear critics are skeptical. The fourth-generation reactor that the Italian government has pledged to build has not yet even been fully designed so Italian nuclear reactors won't be the answer to any energy problem the country will be facing for one decade or more.

Environmental groups throughout the country are criticizing the idea to bring back nuclear power. Director of Greenpeace Italy, Giuseppe Onofrio, has pledged that he'll fight `tooth and nail' to keep Italy nuclear-free, while Vice President of the Italian Senate, Emma Bonino, said building nuclear plants would not meet current demand because they wouldn't be ready for at least 20 years.

In the meantime Enel is planning to build a coal-fired power station in Albania and is looking into nuclear opportunities there and in Italy, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said recently. "We are working with the Albanian government for the construction of a coal plant and we want to push for nuclear" told Fulvio Conti, Enel chief executive, pointing out that Italy imports some 20% of its electricity from France which is largely produced by nuclear energy.