Pichetto, Roadmap to Nuclear Energy at the end of October – Energia & Energy

At the end of October, the roadmap for the return to nuclear energy, the framework bill for the sector in early 2025, the first 400 MW of electricity generation in 2035. The National Waste Repository has been postponed until 2039, and in the meantime we are thinking about modernizing the existing repositories.

A special national agency could be created to guide Italy’s return to nuclear. Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto explained how the Meloni government wants to bring nuclear power back to Italy at a hearing before the Chamber’s Environment and Productivity Commission.

The technical commission of the ministry, which brings together companies, universities, regulatory bodies, research institutes and trade associations – “results of work on a stable nuclear power base” is expected by the end of October. “Results – will form the basis of the Government’s nuclear strategy”, with “guidelines and associated timelines”.

“In the first months of 2025”, Pichetto continued, “a draft law will be submitted to Parliament to provide a regulatory framework for this sector”, especially authorizations and management. A group of experts, led by jurist Giovanni Cuzzetta, is working on a draft that will present its proposal “by the end of 2024”.

The government’s goal, included in the National Energy Plan Pniec, is to generate 400 MW of electricity from nuclear power by 2035, rising to 3.5 GW by 2045 and 8 GW by 2050. The government is not thinking about traditional nuclear power. plants, but for more modern, economical and safe plants: “small modular reactors” (cylinders with submarine engines inside) and fourth-generation nuclear power (lead-cooled reactors that ‘burn’ waste from old power plants).

According to Pichetto, nuclear power “should be considered not against, but in favor of, the full deployment of renewables”, covering their production variations. Nuclear, unlike wind and photovoltaics, has the advantage of consuming less land and using fuel from sustainable countries like Australia and Canada, the minister said. The minister recalled that there are still knowledge and institutions in the field of working abroad. But now it is necessary to evaluate the need to establish “a national implementation system”, i.e. “a national industrial reference system, of appropriate size and expertise”. Minister moves opening of National Nuclear Repository to 2039 Meanwhile, he adds, “the idea being evaluated is to modernize the existing structures and expand them”.

Avs’ MP Angelo Bonelli criticized Pichetto’s words: “The minister did not answer my questions about the costs of returning to nuclear energy and who should bear them. Also, he failed to underline that small modular reactors are still available. Prototypes, and the US abandoned the project due to excessive costs.” To Stefano Ciafani, president of Legambiente, “Legambiente does not say that nuclear energy is dead, but the reports of the International Energy Agency say so, how it tells the scenarios for 2025, 2030, 2040, 2050 in Europe, how the United States will decrease electricity from nuclear power, how electricity from renewable sources will explode.” , India and China. Meanwhile, a steering committee of Confindustria has been established, which will study the possibility of the production and use of small modular reactors, among its members are managers of major national energy companies.

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