Italy's Senate votes 81 to 51 to reopen the door to nuclear power
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readItaly's Senate has passed the government's bill on a return to nuclear power by 81 votes to 51 with seven abstentions, World Nuclear News reported on 24 September 2026. The lower house passed it in June by 155 to 86 with eight abstentions. The vote closes a process the Council of Ministers began in October last year.
The bill is a delegation of authority rather than a construction plan. It empowers the government to regulate the introduction of what it calls sustainable nuclear power within European decarbonisation and energy-security policy, and names the pieces: a National Programme for Sustainable Nuclear Power, an independent Nuclear Safety Authority, strengthened scientific and industrial research, new skills, and public information campaigns.
Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin told the Senate that market volatility, geopolitical tension and decarbonisation targets had changed the terms of the debate, and that public discussion should rest on verifiable data and technical analysis.
What it means
Nothing is built by this vote. What it creates is the institution that would have to license anything that is - and for a country that shut its reactors four decades ago, rebuilding a regulator is the long pole, not the concrete. Safety authorities need inspectors with operating experience, and Italy's retired with the plants.
The margin is worth noting too: 81-51 in the Senate and 155-86 in the Chamber are comfortable but not consensual, and a delegation bill leaves the contested decisions - sites, technology, who pays - to be taken later by a government that may not be this one. The National Programme is where this becomes real or does not.