Breaking the stalemate: The challenge of nuclear waste governance in Italy

Abstract

The governance of radioactive waste in Italy is burdened by the legacy of over 50 years of discontinuous nuclear research as well as by incoherent technology and industrial policies. Nuclear waste management cannot be separated from the broader political debate on nuclear power, which was and remains a highly political issue. Italy has only a very modest park of four permanently shut-down power plants. Spent fuel (SF) and radioactive waste (RW) are being temporarily stored in at least 21 sites (Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) 2013), some of which are dedicated to fuel reprocessing and manufacturing.