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| Fig. 1: Italian Nuclear Facility Sites. [1,4,9] (Image Source: T. Schouten. Map of Italy: Wikimedia Wikimedia Commons) |
Although a minor player in the global nuclear energy landscape today, Italy was at one point on the cutting of nuclear energy technology. Notable Italian physicists, like the Via Panisperna boys led by Enrico Fermi, helped pioneer nuclear technology in the 1930s with breakthroughs like the discovery that slow neutrons were more likely to be captured by bombarded nuclei. [1] In the shadow of the previous years atomic bombings, Italy's involvement in the sector officially began in 1946 with the creation of CISE, a center dedicated to researching nuclear energy in the shadow of the previous years atomic bombings. [1] The subsequent founding of Il Comitato Nazionale per le Ricerche Nucleari (CNRN), later known as Il Comitato Nazionle per l'Energia Nucleare (CNEN) when it became independent from the Italian National Resource Council, helped spur the development of three nuclear reactors that would be completed by 1964. [1]
The first of the nuclear reactors to begin commercial operation was the Latina plant, a gas-cooled reactor that could produce a net power output of 153 MW, in early 1964. [2] Later the same year, the Garigliano plant, a boiling water reactor that could produce a net power output of 150 MW, also began commercial operations. [2] The Enrico Fermi plant, a pressurized water reactor capable of producing a net 260 MW, then began commercial operation in 1965. [2] In 1965, Italy ranked fourth globally and second in Europe, behind only the United Kingdom, in power generation from nuclear facilities. [3]
However, even as Italy reached its zenith as a global nuclear power, internal political conflicts began to encroach on further progress. Felice Ippolito, who had been Secretary General of CNEN since 1952, helped lead the establishment of the Latina, Trino, and Garigliano nuclear power plants (see Fig. 1). He was widely seen as a leader of the Italian nuclear movement. [1] When he was indicted for maladministration in 1964 and sentenced to 11 years in prison, he became a scapegoat for political adversaries wishing to turn public sentiment away from nuclear power and toward oil. [1] This coincided with the rise of the recently founded Ente Nazionale per l'Energia Elettrica (ENEL), which centralized production of electric energy in Italy. While the 3,510 GWh of electricity produced by Italian nuclear power plants in 1965 represented 4.2% of the country's electricity generation, a world record for nuclear share, nuclear energy output would decrease to 2,208 GWh in 1980, representing only 1.2% of the country's electricity generation. [4] Meanwhile, output due to heavy oil-fired plants increased from 26,420 GWh to 104,103 Gwh over the same period - meaning that thermal generation via heavy oil grew to account for 56% of Italy's electricity production in 1980, compared to only 32% in 1965. [4]
In 1970, the Caorso plant, a boiling water reactor capable of producing a net 860 MW, was completed. It began commercial operations in 1978 (see Fig. 1). [4] During the intervening period, international events made Italy reconsider its stance towards nuclear energy. Particularly, the 1973 oil embargo by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) significantly increased the price of oil. A Piano Energetico Nazionale (PEN), or National Energy Plan, was approved in the next year. [3] It called for the construction of an additional twenty reactor units capable of producing a combined net energy output of 46 GW, as well as establishing a unified national program for standardizing nuclear power plant design and construction. [3] Amidst this increased incentive to rejuvenate efforts in Italian national nuclear energy output, the Montalto di Castro plant (see Fig. 1) was commissioned in 1976. Intended to be made of two units each capable of energy outputs of 982 MW, it would reach about 75% completion before progress was halted by sentiments voiced in the 1987 referendums. [4]
Following the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl plant in 1986 and the announcement by authorities that Italy had been dusted by radioactivity from the accident, the sale of leafy vegetables was banned, and women and children were advised against consuming fresh milk. [5] The public fallout from the incident, along with mounting criticisms about nuclear's economic viability and environmental impact, led to plans for a nuclear power referendum that was eventually held on November 8 and 9, 1987. [6] With more than 65% of eligible voters voting, three laws promoting nuclear energy were repealed. [3] The first law was designed to prevent local councils from overriding plans to build nuclear facilities in their territories. 80.6% of voters approved its repeal. [3] The second law gave rewards to municipalities who agreed to the construction of nuclear power plants in their territory. 79.7% of voters approved its repeal. [3] The third law allowed ENEL to be involved in foreign construction of nuclear power plants. 71.9% of voters approved its repeal. [3] The overwhelming support for repealing these laws demonstrated anti-nuclear public sentiment, and the Italian government would close its four active nuclear power plants and abandon the construction of planned plants. [3]
Following the 1987 referendum, Italy became increasingly dependent on oil and natural gas for energy production, becoming the largest net energy importer. [7] However, in 2008, oil prices in Europe approached $150 per barrel, and Italians were paying the highest energy prices in Europe. [7] The resulting energy crisis renewed interest in nuclear energy. Claudio Scajola, the Italian minister of economic development at the time, announced that Italy would resume building nuclear power plants within five years. [7] An official plan to build new reactors was backed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. [8] In the intervening period, however, the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred. The 2011 accident coincided with a scheduled referendum on Italy's new nuclear laws, which took place in June 2011. 57% of eligible voters voted on the ballot, and over 94% voted to repeal the new nuclear plans, eerily mirroring the abandonment of nuclear power over twenty years earlier. [8]
Despite lacking its own currently operating nuclear energy facilities, Italy is involved in the development of the ITER fusion reactor as a member of the European Union. In addition to contributing to research and development at the ITER complex in the Cadarache region of France, Italy also hosts the only ITER facility outside of France, the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility, in Padua (see Fig. 1). The neutral beams tested here are necessary for achieving burning conditions and controlling plasma instabilities in the ITER reactor. The facility's beam source power supplies have successfully passed simulated operating conditions of 1.2 MV for an hour. [9] Ongoing research at the facility will play an integral role in the continued development of the ITER reactor.
Additionally, climate concerns have reignited conversations of reintegrating nuclear energy in Italy's energy sector. Although Italy has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, it had the third highest energy demand of any country in the EU in 2021, and 52% of this energy was produced by fossil fuels. [10] While the reintegration of nuclear energy could help Italy reach its climate goals, the issue of safely storing nuclear waste from its previous nuclear plants and facilities needs to be addressed prior to building new facilities. Currently, nuclear waste is stored at the four previously operating nuclear power plants (Enrico Fermi, Caorso, Latin, and Gargliano), as well as five other nuclear facilities spread across Italy: Bosco Marengo, Casaccia, Ispra I, Rotondella, and Saluggia. [11] These five facilities hold the waste from medical, industrial, and R&D activities in largely untreated form. [11] Reprocessing of the waste, or separating the spent nuclear fuel from components that can be used for future nuclear processes, takes place outside of Italy, with Italy sending its last shipment for reprocessing to the United Kingdom in 2005. [11] With an estimated 31,751 cubic meters of radioactive waste remaining in Italy at the end of 2020, efforts were undertaken to find a national storage site that safely disposes of past and future waste. [11] A proposed National Map of Suitable Areas was submitted to Ministry of Ecological Transition in March 2022. [11] With impending climate deadlines and continuing logistical planning for waste management, nuclear involvement in Italy seems more likely than it previously did, which would represent an important step for Europe's goals of carbon neutrality.
© Troy Schouten. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] E. Bini, "Atoms for Peace (and War): US Forms of Influence on Italy's Civilian Nuclear Programs (1946-1964)," in Nuclear Italy, ed. by E. Bini and I. Londero (University Press Italiane 2017), p. 23.
[2] "Nuclear Power Reactors in the World," International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA-RDS-2/41, July 2021.
[3] M. C. Cantone, G. Sgturioni, and G. Brunelli, "The Role Played By Stakeholders in the Public Debate That Brought Italy Out of the Club of Nuclear Energy Producers," Health Phys. 93, 261 (2007).
[4] G. B. Zorzoli, "Did the Italian Decision Makers Understand That Nuclear Is Not Business as Usual?" in Nuclear Italy, ed. by E. Bini and I. Londero (University Press Italiane 2017).
[5] M. D. Suro, "Chernobyl Cloud Passes, but Chill in Italy Lingers," New York Times, 27 May 86.
[6] P. V. Uleri, "The 1987 Referenda," Italian Politics 3, 155 (1989).
[7] E. Rosenthal, "Italy Embraces Nuclear Power," New York Times, 23 May 08.
[8] R. Donadio, "Italian Voters Come Out to Overturn Laws and Deliver a Rebuke to Berlusconi," New York Times, 13 Jun 11.
[9] V. Toigo et al., "Progress in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility," Nucl. Fusion 59, 086058 (2019).
[10] U. Giuliani et al., "Nuclear Fusion Impact on the Requirements of Power Infrastructure Assets in a Decarbonized Electricity System," Fusion Eng. Des. 192, 113554 (2023).
[11] M. R. Di Nucci and A. Prontera, "Nuclear Waste Governance in Italy: Between Participation Rhetoric and Regionalism," in The Future of Radioactive Waste Governance: Lessons from Europe, ed. by M. Arentsen and R. van Est (Springer VS, 2023), p. 51.
