Nuclear, Pichetto opens up the possibility of producing reactors in Mirafiori

Fourth-generation nuclear reactors could be produced at the Stellantis site in Mirafiori. For the Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, it is a viable route. 'If Newcleo goes ahead it could be there,' the minister said during a meeting in Turin, talking about the start-up that is investing in clean nuclear power in Piedmont. The idea does not please the metalworkers' unions, who are calling for new models and a recruitment plan for the Turin factory and consider the minister's statement a 'boutade'. "It is a theoretical hypothesis, we are still in the research phase. Theoretically, reactors can be built anywhere, even at Mirafiori. My hope is that in Mirafiori we will continue to produce cars first and foremost,' Pichetto clarified yesterday evening.

In the meantime, the tables on Stellantis will start next week at Mimit: initially cancelled the one on Melfi on 2 April to avoid overlapping with the election campaign, it was put back on the agenda by Minister Adolfo Urso after the protests of the Basilicata Region and the trade unions, although Stellantis will not take part due to the 'company policy linked to meetings during the election campaign period'. On the 3rd it will be Mirafiori's turn, the next day Atessa, in the following weeks it will be the turn of Cassino, Pomigliano, Modena and Termoli. "Estimates are around two billion for the construction of each small fourth-generation nuclear reactor, with spin-offs in terms of employment and professional qualifications. It really means a step towards the future,' Pichetto emphasises. 'We are still in an experimental phase. We are working with the university,' adds the minister, who recalls the presence in Piedmont of Newcleo, Ansaldo and Enea.

However, the criticism is not long in coming. "Picchetto's joke about nuclear power at Mirafiori is ridiculous, but it is a wink to the atom lobby. The electric future of the automotive industry in Italy is currently at a standstill with only the 500 electric produced at Mirafiori: continuing to give credence to Tavares' fable about the centrality of Italy for Stellantis is madness, because Stellantis is working hard to shut down every piece of machinery without collective redundancies,' comments Marco Grimaldi, vice-president of the Green and Left Alliance in the Chamber of Deputies. But Pichetto reiterates, as he has done on other occasions, that new nuclear power plants are needed to meet the national energy demand. 'In the immediate future, at the end of this decade and the beginning of the next one,' he notes, 'research and experimentation are moving towards what are called small reactors, which give greater guarantees of practicality, safety and in terms of renewable energy. Nuclear power gives continuity, ordinary renewable energies such as photovoltaic and wind are not able to give continuity, instead this is a way to integrate production at a national level'.

Regarding the storage of waste, Pichetto explains: 'Assessments are being made at my ministry to identify suitable sites and areas. The assessment will be scientific and technical, then of course we will talk with the territories'.