Nuclear power in Italy is a controversial topic. Italy started to produce nuclear energy in the early 1960s, but all plants were closed by 1990 following the 1987 referendum.
As of 2023, Italy is one of only three countries, along with Lithuania and Germany, that completely phased out nuclear power for electricity generation after having operational reactors.
Enrico Fermi nuclear power plant in Trino, 2010.
Caorso spent fuel pool in 2005
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research.
The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland
The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West, December 20, 1951.
The launching ceremony of the USS Nautilus January 1954. In 1958 it would become the first vessel to reach the North Pole.
The Calder Hall nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, the world's first commercial nuclear power station.