Climate change, the reduction of Russian natural gas, high electricity prices and safer next-generation nuclear reactors will lead more European countries to invest in new nuclear reactors. But internal EU disagreements over nuclear power, as well as technical and financial hurdles, will complicate those efforts and introduce new challenges for nuclear companies. Italy is becoming the latest European country to offer political support for nuclear power. On Sept. 21, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin launched the National Platform for Sustainable Nuclear Power to develop guidelines in the next nine months to possibly reintroduce nuclear power to Italy's energy mix. In launching the platform, Fratin pointed out that Italy needed to secure electricity sources that, unlike renewables, can provide a stable supply of power, like nuclear power does, as the country phases out fossil fuels. If Italy builds nuclear reactors, it would most likely only consider small modular reactors or more...
