Italy's center-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will reintroduce nuclear power in the country to reduce energy costs for companies and households, Industry Ministry Claudio Scajola said Thursday.
The government has scheduled for the construction of the first nuclear-powered plants by 2013, when its parliamentary term ends, Scajola said at a business lobby group Confindustria conference in Rome.
Italy scrapped nuclear facilities more than 20 years ago on the back of the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. The vast majority of Italy's electricity is generated by natural gas and fuel oil, which are tied to soaring crude oil prices, making power in the country among the highest in Europe.