Nuclear power in Italy

Nuclear power in Italy is a controversial topic. Italy started to produce nuclear energy in the early 1960s, but all plants were closed by 1990 following the Italian nuclear power referendum.

An attempt to change the decision was made in 2008 by the government (see also nuclear power debate), which called the nuclear power phase-out a "terrible mistake, the cost of which totalled over €50 billion".Minister of Economic Development Claudio Scajola proposed to build as many as 10 new reactors, with the goal of increasing the nuclear share of Italy's electricity supply to about 25% by 2030.

However, following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, the Italian government put a one-year moratorium on plans to revive nuclear power. On 11—12 June 2011, Italian voters passed a referendum to cancel plans for new reactors. Over 94% of the electorate voted in favor of the construction ban, with 55% of the eligible voters participating, making the vote binding.

There are no nuclear power plants in operation in Italy.

The history of nuclear power in Italy starts at the end of 1946, when the Cise, a small centre for nuclear energy research, was created. A few years later, a public research institute linked to the CNR, the Cnrn (Comitato Nazionale per le Ricerche Nucleari, National Committee for Nuclear Research), was founded. The Cnrn became an autonomous research entity in 1960, the Cnen (Comitato Nazionale per l'Energia Nucleare, National Committee for Nuclear Energy).

During all the 1950s there was a common belief that nuclear energy would have provided within few years, safely and economically, all the energy needed. Italy ordered between 1956 and 1958 3 different reactors from 3 different companies: Westinghouse, General Electric and Npcc. The reactors were built in Trino Vercellese, Sessa Aurunca and Latina and were all completed by 1964.

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