Italy’s Plans for Nuclear Energy Renaissance
View of Brasimone Lake with the decommissioned nuclear reactor. A research center for alternative energies is located on the lakeshore.
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Italy abandoned nuclear power, with the last nuclear power plant being shut down in 1990.
However, the geopolitical tensions following the Ukraine war have highlighted the vulnerability of the country’s energy supply. Energy prices in Italy are higher compared to France and Spain, putting the domestic industry at a significant competitive disadvantage.
This has spurred a change in mindset, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government planning a return to nuclear energy. A corresponding bill is set to be presented in the coming weeks.
Italy also boasts several promising startups and industrial partnerships in the field of nuclear technology.
Newcleo: Italy’s New Startup Hope
The Italian economy is home to around 600 companies in the nuclear sector, collectively generating an annual revenue of 4 billion euros. Universities in Pisa, Turin, Milan, and Palermo are training nuclear physicists.
Great hopes are pinned on the success of a young company: Stefano Buono, a former physicist at the CERN research center in Geneva, founded Newcleo in 2021. The startup aims to have nuclear mini-reactors operational in less than ten years.
Stefano Buono, CEO, Newcleo
About 200 mostly young physicists and engineers work in an elegant Palazzo in the center of Turin on simulations and studies related to safety and design for an initial prototype. It is set to be operational in the defunct Brasimone nuclear reactor south of Bologna by 2026. Elisabeth Rizzotti, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Newcleo, told NZZ: “We aim to produce safe, sustainable, and competitively priced energy.”
Liquid lead serves as the coolant for the mini-reactors, which are about the size of a small factory hall. By 2030, Newcleo plans to start producing its own nuclear fuel from reprocessed spent nuclear fuel from existing nuclear power plants in France. According to Buono, nuclear waste can be recycled 200 to 300 times. Any remaining waste can be used in nuclear medicine or for batteries: “We are fulfilling Einstein’s dream of converting matter into energy. This is true circular economy.”
Newcleo has approximately 900 employees, with the company’s headquarters recently relocated to Paris. The firm has additional locations in London, Belgium, Switzerland, and Slovakia. It has raised €537 million from investors, including the Exor family holding company and the heirs of the Agnelli family, former owners of Fiat. Rizzotti, Newcleo’s COO, stated that the company requires an additional €3 billion by 2030 for its projects. Allegedly, the state-owned investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is considering an investment of up to €200 million in Newcleo.
Are the Plans Overly Optimistic?
In France, where numerous nuclear power plants are located, Newcleo aims to build a prototype nuclear reactor by 2031. The first reactor is expected to follow in 2033, which will then be produced on a mass scale.
Experts, such as those at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), view these timelines as highly optimistic. Newcleo estimates construction times of two to three years, with low and easily controllable risks. The installation of a 200-megawatt nuclear reactor is projected to cost a total of €800 million. However, the construction of new nuclear power plants in Finland and France has recently faced delays and significant cost overruns.
Brussels, on the other hand, holds high hopes. Newcleo has been selected by the EU as one of nine projects for funding under the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). This initiative aims to promote the development and production of innovative, safe, and efficient mini-reactor projects, integrate nuclear technologies into industrial applications, and make them attractive to investors by the early 2030s. Two other Italian companies, Ansaldo and Enea, have also been included in the program.
Potential Strategic Collaborations
Elisabeth Rizzotti envisions a partnership with Ansaldo or other companies for Newcleo. This move would follow the example set by the utility company Enel, oil company Eni, and Ansaldo, who are on the verge of establishing a joint nuclear venture.
However, Enel CEO Flavio Cattaneo tempers expectations: “It takes up to fifteen years for mini-reactors to become operational,” he recently stated at a capital markets day in Milan. Moreover, Italy’s nuclear renaissance has not yet received political approval, as a referendum could potentially halt the plans.
According to Michele Perotti, Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency Studies (CESEF), which focuses on energy efficiency, it is uncertain what the country can expect in the coming months and years. The ideal complementarity of nuclear energy with renewable energy sources needs to be determined first.