Parliament Approves Delegation Law on Sustainable Nuclear, Targeting Production by 2035 After Decades of Rejection.
For nearly four decades, nuclear energy has been a forbidden topic in Italian politics, the victim of a 1987 referendum that closed the door on the industry after the Chernobyl disaster shook public confidence across Europe. Today, 4 June 2026, that door cracked open. The Chamber of Deputies approved a delegation law on sustainable nuclear energy with 155 votes in favour, 86 against, and 8 abstentions, sending the measure to the Senate for final approval and potentially ending Italy’s three-decade exclusion from nuclear power generation.
The law does not immediately build reactors or produce electricity. It instead creates the legal framework that will allow the government to issue implementing decrees within a year, establishing rules for the construction and operation of new nuclear facilities, hydrogen production through nuclear energy, radioactive waste management, and nuclear safety governance. If approved by both chambers before the summer break, Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin aims to have all implementing decrees completed by the end of 2026.
The timeline is ambitious: Italy aims to have nuclear electricity production operational by approximately 2035, completing a full energy policy reversal in just nine years.
The New Nuclear Model
This is not a return to the massive centralised reactors that characterised Italy’s pre-1987 nuclear programme. Instead, the focus is on small modular reactors (SMR), advanced modular reactors (AMR), and micro-reactors—facilities that are theoretically smaller, more flexible, less costly to build, and capable of being deployed across multiple sites. No operational European model yet exists for these technologies. The only functioning SMRs globally are in Russia, China and Japan.
Pichetto frames this as a response to three imperatives: climate decarbonisation by 2050, energy independence from imported fossil fuels, and cost containment for Italian consumers and industry. Without nuclear, he argues, Italy cannot meet its climate commitments while maintaining competitive energy prices.
The Political Calculation
The vote reveals significant political divisions. The centre-right government, including Fratelli d’Italia and Forza Italia, voted solidly in favour. The centre-left opposition, including the Five Star Movement and parts of the Democratic Party, voted against, warning that the law opens Italy to another referendum that could derail the entire project, as happened in 1987.
Carlo Calenda’s Azione party offered a middle position: scepticism of the government’s ability to execute, but openness to nuclear if approached differently. The M5S was blunt: why invest in experimental small reactors when renewable energy is cheaper, cleaner, safer and more democratic?
The Referendum Question
The elephant in the room is the 1987 precedent. If the law passes both chambers, it will create a regulatory framework for nuclear development. But Italy’s referendum rules allow any law to be challenged if 500,000 citizens sign a petition. Anti-nuclear groups are already preparing. The entire project—which the government hopes will be operational within nine years—could be overturned by popular vote if momentum shifts.
This is not a minor consideration. It is why the government is racing to approve the law, issue the decrees, and begin permitting sites before anti-nuclear sentiment can be mobilised into a referendum campaign.
Europe’s Energy Calculus
Italy’s shift reflects a broader European recalibration. The EU has begun recognizing nuclear as a legitimate low-carbon energy source within its taxonomy of sustainable investments. Countries like France, which generates 70 percent of its electricity from nuclear, have become the model. Germany’s embrace of renewables has left it vulnerable to energy price shocks. Italy, facing similar pressures and the challenge of decarbonising while keeping energy affordable, has decided to hedge.
The Mediterranean nation that rejected nuclear in 1987 is now betting that by 2035, small modular reactors will be the answer to energy independence and climate compliance.
The Senate votes next. If approved before the summer recess, the real work begins: issuing decrees, selecting sites, navigating environmental reviews, and racing to beat any referendum movement.
