A first milestone has been reached with the Chamber’s first reading approval of the enabling bill on new nuclear power, signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. However, the legislative process has just begun, as the text, after Montecitorio’s approval, will now have to be examined by the Senate. The government has repeatedly reiterated the timeline for completing the process: the goal is to achieve approval in both branches of Parliament before the summer break. The work of the Chambers should conclude, barring last-minute changes, in the first ten days of August, and then resume at the beginning of September.
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There are, therefore, still almost two months available to complete the process and ensure the green light for the bill which, as is known, contains the regulatory framework to facilitate the start of new nuclear power in Italy and proceed with the dismantling of old power plants. Minister Pichetto Fratin reiterated yesterday that the government expects to issue the implementing decrees by Christmas. But what and how many will there be?
The implementing decrees
The answer is contained within the same bill, which defines the subject of the legislative delegation in Article 2, but it must be said that the preparatory work for the implementation phase will determine which and how many decrees will be adopted within 12 months from the date the law comes into force, which in any case refers, in Article 1, to the possibility of proceeding with a unitary codification. Therefore, several options remain open, but the path to be taken will be the result of an evaluation once Parliament gives the green light to the delegation.
The key elements
As mentioned, Article 2 of the provision lists a series of matters that will need to be regulated, but there are certainly some key elements that will need to be carefully developed, starting with the authorization process, whose general coordinates are laid out in black and white in the delegation where it is mentioned that the enabling title issued following the experimentation, construction, installation or operation of the plants as well as related works «replaces every administrative provision, authorization, concession, license, clearance and act of consent, however named, with the exception of environmental assessment provisions».
Alongside this, the entire issue related to the management of radioactive waste will need to be detailed, as clarified by the delegation itself. And the issues related to the definition of an Authority will also need to be resolved, on which the bill merely emphasizes the need for a reorganization of the matter, also with a view to evaluating the establishment of an independent administrative authority for nuclear safety.
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