SMR reactors: Italy’s nuclear comeback begins

Power companies Enel and Ansaldo Energia have reached an agreement with aerospace and defence engineering giant Leonardo to make advanced third generation water small modular reactors (SMRs), the companies said, CE Report quotes ANSA.

Italy abandoned nuclear power after a 1987 referendum a year after the Chernobyl disaster but the government has said it will now return to the power source using small reactors operated by the private sector with public help.The new SMT partnership company structure will be composed of Enel, with 51% and with the power to appoint a chairman and CEO, Ansaldo which will hold 39% and Leonardo with 10%.

Enel, which will therefore have the majority, is currently the only Italian energy company active in the sector, as a manager and developer of nuclear plants abroad.

The partnership agreement, anticipated today by Il Sole 24 Ore and Corriere della Sera, will focus, preliminarily, on activities functional to the construction of the first SMR in Italy, as well as theoretical research and monitoring in the field of fourth-generation nuclear reactors (Advanced modular reactor).

Then the subsequent construction activity will be subordinated, among other things, to the adoption of a regulatory framework on nuclear energy production.

However, the agreement represents an important first step and the Ministry of Economy (MEF), in collaboration with the ministry of the environment and energy security (MASE) and the Business and Made in Italy Ministry (MIMIT), has promoted the project that aims to represent a tangible result of the government's strategy to promote synergies between the participating companies to strengthen the country's positioning in advanced technological areas.

According to the latest National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate, in fact, nuclear fission, and in the long term fusion, could provide approximately 11% of total electrical energy by 2050, with a projection towards 22%.

Furthermore, in the Medium-Term Budget Structural Plan, presented in September 2024, the Government indicated as a bill connected to the 2025 budget an enabling law to introduce a legislative framework of reference to accommodate the proposal to resume nuclear energy production in Italy starting from 2030.