France and Italy sign nuclear deal
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 25, 2009 00:00
ROME - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed a nuclear cooperation accord yesterday as Italy took a first step toward returning to the use of atomic energy. The agreement covers research and waste treatment as well as the construction of nuclear power plants.
Officials of the Italian and French power companies ENEL and EDF sealed a partnership deal for the construction of at least four third-generation EPR nuclear reactors in Italy, ENEL said in a communiqu.
"When the legislative and technical process to enable a return to nuclear power in Italy is complete, ENEL and EDF will undertake to develop, build and operate at least four generation units based on EPR technology," the statement said. "The accord is for the first Italian unit to enter commercial service no later than 2020," it said.
Nuclear agenda
The accord comes two decades after Italy abandoned nuclear energy following the Chernobyl accident. The Berlusconi government announced shortly after taking office in May 2008 that it would begin building nuclear power stations to solve the country's dependence on foreign oil and gas supplies.
It said it wanted to lay the first stone for a return to nuclear energy before the end of the current parliament in 2013. The decision reversed a 20-year ban on nuclear power following a 1987 referendum in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine, a year earlier. Although Italy has suffered occasional power shortages in recent years, due in part to problems with its electricity distribution network, a return to nuclear promises to be long and complicated, not least because of expected political and activist opposition.
"When the legislative and technical process to enable a return to nuclear power in Italy is complete, ENEL and EDF will undertake to develop, build and operate at least four generation units based on EPR technology," the statement said. "The accord is for the first Italian unit to enter commercial service no later than 2020," it said.
Nuclear agenda
The accord comes two decades after Italy abandoned nuclear energy following the Chernobyl accident. The Berlusconi government announced shortly after taking office in May 2008 that it would begin building nuclear power stations to solve the country's dependence on foreign oil and gas supplies.
It said it wanted to lay the first stone for a return to nuclear energy before the end of the current parliament in 2013. The decision reversed a 20-year ban on nuclear power following a 1987 referendum in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine, a year earlier. Although Italy has suffered occasional power shortages in recent years, due in part to problems with its electricity distribution network, a return to nuclear promises to be long and complicated, not least because of expected political and activist opposition.