Sogin at the Chamber of Deputies Conference on new sustainable nuclear
20 February 2025
On the morning of 18 February, the Sala della Lupa in Montecitorio, hosted the Chamber of Representatives conference entitled "The new sustainable nuclear power: an opportunity for Italy? A crucial step for the energy transition.” .
Promoted by Riccardo Zucconi, Member of Parliament and Head of Energy for the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party, the event was attended by various institutional representatives, experts and players in the energy sector, including Sogin, with CEO Gian Luca Artizzu.
The conference began with an introduction by Nicola Procaccini, FdI MEP and co-chair of the ECR Group in the European Parliament. Claudio Barbaro, Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, Paolo Trancassini, senior questore in the Chamber of Deputies, then also spoke.
After the institutional greetings from Fabio Rampelli, Vice-President of the Chamber, Mauro Rotelli, President of the VIII Commission of the Chamber and Francesco Filini, Deputy and Coordinator of the Studies Office of Fratelli d 'Italia, companies and experts took the floor.
In his speech, the CEO of Sogin, Gian Luca Artizzu, addressed the issue of radioactive waste disposal. "The problem of waste is not a problem, " he clarified, "but a feature of the nuclear management process ", highlighting how an operating plant produces a minimum amount of waste compared to the energy generated.
Taking the Caorso nuclear power plant as an example, the CEO reported that, in almost five years of operation, the facility had produced about 29 billion kilowatt hours, equalling 6 billion kilowatt hours per year, despite not being fully operational. "The waste produced by Caorso over that period was minimal" , he pointed out, adding that the decommissioning of the facility had resulted in waste disproportionate to the energy generated due to the limited operation.
The CEO also clarified that Sogin was at the halfway mark of the Italian decommissioning programme, even though the disassembly process for the old installations takes place "brick by brick" in compliance with one of the most stringent regulations in the world. This takes significantly longer, about "300 times" more than what happens abroad, but he reiterated that "this is a characteristic of the process, but it is also a characteristic of the guaranteed level of seriousness".
The ongoing dismantling does not represent a technical obstacle to the construction of new nuclear power plants in Italy. Overseas, it is common to have a plant in operation at the same site, one in the decommissioning phase and another under development, as is the case, for example, in the Bohunice area in Slovakia, where Sogin is involved in decommissioning activities.
At the end of his speech, the CEO stressed the importance of correctly communicating the nature of nuclear waste and its treatment. "These are completely technological, safe, multi-barrier confined compounds that if organised in the way we have designed for the National Repository, release a quality of radioactivity equivalent to 1,000 bananas into the environment".
The conference was also attended by: Francesco Campanella, ISIN Director; Franco Cotana, CEO of RSE; Daniela Gentile, CEO of Ansaldo Nucleare; Marco Ricotti, President and Professor at the Politecnico di Milano; Elisabeth Rizzotti, from Newcleo; Nicola Rossi, Head of Innovation at Enel and Alessandro Sabbini, Head of Institutional Relations at Eni.
Thanks to the different contributions, the round table provided concrete answers to the questions about the energy transition, confirming nuclear power as a fundamental component of the Italy’s energy future.
The CEO of Sogin’s complete presentation is available at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTwjFzo8vSw