ROME, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than three decades after it stopped producing nuclear power, Italy's government now mulls a return to the energy source, prompted by uncertain energy supplies.
In late September, the government formally launched the National Platform for Sustainable Nuclear Power, which is expected to lay out guidelines within nine months for the country's possible return to nuclear power in the future.
According to Renato Gatto, professor of engineering and nuclear reactor theory at Rome's La Sapienza University, arguments in favor of nuclear power generation in Italy include increasing efficiency and producing less nuclear waste than the older technologies used in the country in the 1980s, along with enhanced safety and the ease of connecting to existing power networks.
The power source would not provide a quick supplement to Italy's energy mix. Gatto said that in a best-case scenario, new plants could start to produce energy in ten to 15 years.
Italy first began to use nuclear energy in the early 1960s and by the 1980s, the country had four working nuclear reactors. By 1990, the country's last two nuclear power plants were closed.
According to Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto, the moves toward nuclear power are part of a broader strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ■