Law for return to nuclear by end of this parliament-Pichetto

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 2 - Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto said Thursday that the government aims to pass the necessary legislation to make Italy's return to nuclear power possible by the end of the current parliamentary term.
    Italy closed its nuclear plants in 1990 after the 1987 referendum on atomic energy following the Chernobyl disaster.
    However, Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration says this policy should be revised, given that nuclear energy has a low carbon footprint and there is a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet European and international targets for combating the climate crisis.
    The country is also looking to boost its energy security following the war caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
    "Yes, we'll give it our all," Pichetto told Radio 24 when asked if the legislative framework for nuclear energy could be changed by the end of parliament.
    "This is this mandate of the government and of parliament.
    "I am acting via a working group that must take care of the judicial framework.
    "If you want to acquire a small, modular reactor, there has to be a compatible judicial framework".
    He said the government was looking into the envisioned IV generation of nuclear reactors.
    "There's talk of having the necessary conditions to produce these small reactors at the end of this decade," Pichetto said.
    "That means we have to have everything ready in this parliamentary term". (ANSA).