Italian Senate approves framework law to revive nuclear energy in 81-51 vote

Senate passage and legal framework

Italy's upper house Senate passed an enabling bill on Wednesday to establish a national regulatory framework for nuclear energy, concluding parliamentary approval after the Chamber of Deputies cleared the measure in June. The Senate approved the legislation with 81 votes in favour, 51 against, and 7 abstentions. The law grants the government a 12-month mandate to issue legislative decrees governing the entire nuclear lifecycle, including reactor construction, plant operations, spent fuel management, and the creation of an independent safety regulator. Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who authored the text, announced that his department plans to draft the required implementing decrees before the end of the year. The legislation does not directly commission individual power stations, but creates the administrative structure for private companies to develop projects within government-set parameters.

Technology and economic targets

The policy framework focuses primarily on advanced small modular reactors rather than traditional large-scale power stations, alongside provisions for nuclear-powered hydrogen production and maritime propulsion. The law also includes research into nuclear fusion, connecting domestic work at the Divertor Tokamak Test facility in Frascati to broader international efforts such as the ITER project in Cadarache, France. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argued that establishing domestic production is necessary to reduce dependence on foreign electricity imports from neighbouring countries such as France, especially following price volatility linked to international conflicts.

Today Parliament definitively approved the law on nuclear power. After almost forty years, Italy once again has a framework of rules to produce nuclear energy. A courageous and common-sense choice. Today we import electricity produced by nuclear plants in neighbouring nations, but we cannot produce it ourselves. This law serves to change things.

According to government estimates presented last year, supplying at least 11% of Italy's electricity from nuclear generation could reduce decarbonization expenses by €17 billion ($19 billion) by 2050. The national energy and climate plan projects that the nuclear contribution could expand to 22% over time. Pichetto Fratin previously suggested 2034 to 2035 as a target timeframe for the first operational reactors to begin feeding the national grid.

Funding, safety rules and political debate

To support implementation, the legislation authorizes €20 million per year from 2027 to 2029 from the infrastructure investment fund of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security. Portions of this budget will fund public communication campaigns for communities under consideration as potential plant locations. The law requires mandatory involvement of local municipalities in site selection, alongside territorial compensation schemes and compulsory insurance guarantees covering the full lifespan of each facility. Forza Italia Senate leader Stefania Craxi supported the measure as a step toward energy independence and price stability for businesses and households. Centre-left opposition lawmakers opposed the bill, citing long construction schedules, high capital costs, and unresolved waste disposal issues. Five Star Movement senator Elena Sironi insisted that any reactor construction must remain strictly limited to already degraded or decommissioned industrial zones. A June poll by Demopolis indicated that 51% of Italian citizens supported returning to nuclear energy production, though most respondents remained opposed to building reactors near their own homes.