Italy's new Industry Minister Paolo Romani may introduce by March the regulations needed to push forward the comeback of nuclear energy in the country, said Enel SpA (ENEL.MI) Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti after meeting him Wednesday.
Italy 's new Industry Minister Paolo Romani may introduce by March the regulations needed to push forward the comeback of nuclear energy in the country, said Enel SpA (ENEL.MI) Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti after meeting him Wednesday.

"The minister confirmed the commitment to deal with nuclear, of which he is a full supporter, and to determine possibly by March all the regulations needed to push forward the project," Enel's CEO told reporters after meeting Romani in Rome.

Romani was named Monday Italy's new industry minister after the previous one, Claudio Scajola, resigned in May over allegations of an improper real-estate deal. Scajola denies any wrongdoing.

Wednesday, Romani told reporters the country will fill the vacancies at the Agency for Nuclear Safety by the end of the year.

Romani also said he "fully backed" aiming to have half of Italy 's electricity generated from hydrocarbons, with renewables and nuclear equally producing the remaining 50%. Italy currently generates almost its electricity from hydrocarbons.

Scajola spearheaded the introduction of rules to bring back nuclear power in the country after it was banned in a 1987 referendum. After his resignation, nuclear energy has been put on the back burner.

Enel has teamed up with nuclear energy behemoth Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) with plans to build four atomic plants in Italy for a total combined cost of about EUR18 billion. The plan is to have construction of the first plant to start in 2013 with the facility running by 2020.

The new Agency for Nuclear Safety, which must introduce rules that allow companies to pick sites for nuclear plants, isn't operational and nobody has been appointed to head it.

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