By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) – Energy groups Enel, Ansaldo and defence company Leonardo are in talks to set up a state-backed company to build nuclear reactors in Italy, the country’s energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Wednesday.
Pichetto confirmed the talks with the companies, first reported by newspaper Il Foglio, were taking place, but said nothing had yet been agreed.
“If and when we reach a conclusion we will draw up sums on who is participating,” Pichetto told a news conference following an event dedicated to fusion energy in Rome, adding the new state-backed company should have “an important role” in the system.
Nuclear-fired power plants are prohibited in Italy following referendums in 1987 and 2011 but the government plans to draft rules to allow the use of new nuclear-power technologies and lift the ban.
Italy’s right-wing administration thinks small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors could help decarbonise the country’s most polluting sectors, including steel, glass and tile-makers.
Italy estimates it would be able to save 17 billion euros ($18.20 billion) on the cost of decarbonising the economy by 2050, should it include at least 11% of nuclear power in its energy mix.
Reuters first reported last month that Italy was also in talks with several companies, including U.S. energy group Westinghouse and France’s EDF, as potential partners for the state-backed entity.
Start-up Newcleo would also be part of the project to build SMRs, Reuters previously reported.
Speaking at the same event in Rome, Newcleo CEO Stefano Buono praised the efforts of the Italian government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to advance technology.
“Small, clean, safe, fourth-generation reactors that recycle waste represent the bridge technology to lead the energy mix towards fusion,” Buono said.
($1 = 0.9343 euros)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; writing by Francesca Landini, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and David Evans)
