Haley Zaremba
Haley Zaremba is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City. She has extensive experience writing and editing environmental features, travel pieces, local news in the…
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By Haley Zaremba – Mar 04, 2025, 4:00 PM CST
- Italy’s government has approved a law to overturn a 40-year ban on nuclear energy, aiming to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for sustainable nuclear power production.
- The plan centers on deploying small and advanced modular reactors, which are considered safer and more cost-effective than traditional nuclear reactors.
- Italy estimates that nuclear energy could provide up to 22% of its national energy mix by 2050, leading to significant savings on decarbonization expenditures and increased energy security.
Last week, the Italian government adopted a law to overturn a 40-year ban on nuclear energy in a pivotal move for the future of the country’s energy landscape. Under the law, which has yet to be approved by parliament, Italy must adopt detailed decrees to revitalize the nation’s long-dormant nuclear power sector. Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin anticipates that the nation’s new consolidated nuclear code will be ready by the end of 2027.
“The government has approved another important measure to ensure clean, safe, low-cost energy that can guarantee energy security and strategic independence,” said Italian prime minister Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after the cabinet meeting in which the law was adopted.
The law that the Italian government adopted last Friday “aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for sustainable nuclear energy production” which will comprise a wide range of nuclear-related logistical and policy framings including “nuclear power generation, the decommissioning and dismantling of existing plants, management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, research and development of fusion energy, and the reorganisation of competences and responsibilities in the sector” according to reporting from Euractiv.
The plan is centered on the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs), which are manufactured in a factory setting before being installed on site. These emerging technologies are much more cost effective and efficient than designing and building traditional nuclear reactors, which are custom-built for each site. These models are also supposed to be safer than previous generations of reactors, as they have built-in passive safety mechanisms.
The Italian government pointed to these gains in safety and efficiency as reasoning to revisit and overturn the country’s 1987 referendum ban on nuclear power production. The draft law dictates that Italy should make “a clear break […] with respect to the nuclear plants of the past” and go on to “use of the best available technologies, including modular and advanced technologies”.
Italy estimates that if 11% of the national energy mix comes from nuclear energy by 2050, the country will save 17 billion euros ($17.69 billion) on decarbonization expenditures. The plan, if adopted as written by the Italian parliament,