The opposition reopens a debate on nuclear power

In a speech on Saturday, opposition leader
Silvio Berlusconi (Forza Italia) expressed his belief that Italy needs to
return to nuclear power in order to meet its future energy needs. Berlusconi’s
viewpoint is shared by his center-right ally Pier Ferdinando Casini (UDC) who
stressed that the political class in Italy has to be able to make unpopular
choices in its energy policy to live up to its responsibilities.

Berlusconi’s speech coincided with a
demonstration by the Green Party (Verdi) which was meant to celebrate the
twentieth anniversary of a series of three referenda which led to the
phasing-out of nuclear power across the country. Italy is one of the very few
European countries that has renounced nuclear energy after the referenda in
1987 were interpreted to represent a popular wish to shut down the exisiting
nuclear plants. The phasing-out process started in 1988 and was completed in
1990. The referendum reflected a disenchantment with nuclear power in the
aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl desaster.

The 1980s ans 1990s saw a worldwide
slowdown in the construction of nuclear power plants as a result of the fall in
oil and gas prices which made nuclear power temporarily an unattractive
economic alternative. However, with world oil and gas prices rapidly rising in
the last five years, a number of countries have reconsidered their energy
options and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expects that on a
global scale at least 60 new plants will be built over the next 15 years.

The Prodi government has shown no intention
of joining this international trend and the environment minister Alfonso
Pecoraro Scanio (Verdi) emphasised this weekend that “the whole government” is
convinced that nuclear power cannot be an option for the future as it
represents an “outdated choice” which increases the risk of a nuclear
catastrophe. However, the center-left coalition is not necessarily as united on
the issue as Pecoraro Scanio suggests. DanieleCapezzone from the Radical Party,
for example, has expressed his support for a return to nuclear power and
regards it as an important element of the future energy mix.

Italy’s rejection of nuclear energy is
especially problematic since other domestic energy sources are insufficient to
cover demand so that the country is forced to import approximately 85 per cent
of its energy. Its dependence on foreign sources of electricity is especially
notable pushing Italian electricity prices far above the levels common
elsewhere in the EU. Italy is also especially vulnerable to geopolitical
tensions with energy-producing nations whereas neighbouring France which
produces 75 per cent of its electricity needs through domestic nuclear power
stations has achieved a high degree of energy self-sufficiency. In addition to
that, it is questionable to what extent indepedence of nuclear power has been
achieved at all since the 1990 shutdown. While having turned off its own
nuclear energy production the country is in fact still dependent on foreign nuclear
power plants, with much of the energy being imported from France and
Switzerland.

The center-right is likely to maintain the
pressure on the issue and may well see its advocacy of nuclear power vindicated
in the coming years. In the current debate Adolfo Urso from Alleanza Nazionale
has hit a sensitive point by mentioning that “in France families pay 50 per
cent and companies 30 per cent less for their electricity bills”. International
demand for all kinds of energy will further increase thus making nuclear energy
an increasingly attractive option to keep a lid on electricity prices for
Italian consumers.