Italian Parliament Approves Nuclear Power Restart, Ending Nearly Four-Decade Ban
nashnova research
Italy's Senate voted 81-51 to pass a nuclear energy bill, ending a ban in place since the country's last reactor shut in 1990. The legal framework is set, but construction timelines, tight public finances, and unproven technology mean actual power generation remains years away.
Where did the ban come from, and why lift it now?
After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Italy held a referendum to abandon nuclear power and shut its last reactor in 1990 — nearly four decades of zero nuclear operation.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government faces energy-price pressure ahead of next year's election. It has already cut road tolls and extended diesel-tax relief; restarting nuclear is the bigger move on the same logic.
This means → the lifting looks less like a long-term energy strategy and more like a politically driven decision timed to the electoral cycle.
The bill passed — when will reactors actually generate power?
The new law gives the government one year to draft detailed rules on nuclear production, spent-fuel management, and fusion research.
But passing a law ≠ connecting a reactor to the grid. Nuclear plants typically take years or longer to build; even if regulations land on schedule, no firm generation date exists.
In plain terms = what Italy now holds is a permit to start planning. Siting, licensing, construction, and commissioning each run on a timeline measured in years.
Where does the money come from?
Italy's statistics agency confirmed this week that the fiscal deficit stands at 3.1% of GDP, meaning Italy cannot exit the EU's Excessive Deficit Procedure — the bloc's fiscal-discipline mechanism for non-compliant states.
Nuclear plants are capital-heavy; construction costs run into the billions of euros, and the government's fiscal room is already squeezed by energy subsidies and tax cuts.
This reflects a core tension: the political will to go nuclear is in place, but the fiscal capacity to pay for it has not caught up.
What is the opposition worried about?
Critics raise two questions: how to dispose of radioactive waste, and whether the advanced nuclear technologies the government champions can be commercialised on the stated timeline.
Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin calls nuclear a "core strategic pillar" for reducing import dependence, but that judgment rests on technology delivering on schedule — and globally, next-generation nuclear projects have a track record of delays and cost overruns.
Put simply = the government has drawn a long-term blueprint; the opposition points out that the key technology and funding sources on that blueprint are still question marks.
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