Italy Returns to Nuclear After 40-Year Hiatus

The Italian Senate has approved a government bill to restart nuclear power generation, marking the first formal step toward rebuilding a nuclear sector since reactors were phased out after a 1987 referendum. That vote followed the Chernobyl disaster and led to the eventual shutdown of the country's four reactors, with the last unit taken offline in 1990. The new legislation tasks the government with preparing an executive decree within 12 months to set rules on reactor licensing, safety standards, radioactive waste management and site selection. The government is prioritising advanced technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs), arguing these designs are safer, more flexible and faster to deploy than the large reactors Italy previously operated. Officials frame the revival as a response to both climate goals — using low-carbon baseload power to decarbonise energy-intensive industry — and energy security concerns amplified by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that have disrupted supply chains and driven up costs. Economic and public-pressure factors are central to the policy shift. Italian electricity prices have risen sharply over the past year, and energy and electricity import costs are cited as contributors to fiscal strain. Italy currently depends heavily on fossil fuels, with natural gas and petroleum making up roughly 80% of total energy supply and renewables accounting for the remaining 20%. Over 90% of total energy needs are imported, including electricity from nuclear-rich neighbours such as France. Despite government backing, nuclear remains politically divisive in Italy. Historical opposition runs deep — a 2011 referendum showed overwhelming resistance to nuclear plants — and recent polling suggests that while a slim majority support restarting nuclear generation, most people do not want a plant built near their homes. Practical challenges also remain: Italy lacks a permanent national repository for radioactive waste from its earlier program, and existing waste is stored at temporary sites. Italy's move mirrors a broader European trend of renewed investment in nuclear energy and SMR development. Several countries, including France, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Romania, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, are advancing new reactors, life extensions or SMR projects to enhance energy independence and meet emissions targets. The Italian law initiates a 12-month regulatory push to define how the country will license and site future nuclear capacity within that regional context.