In Italy, in mid-May, the Industry Committee of the Senate reversed a no-nuclear policy that has been in effect since 1986, and voted in favor of building nuclear power plants. The vote came in the form of passage of two amendments to a bill (N. 691) on general liberalization of the energy market. One amendment promotes research into nuclear technology. The second, calls on the government to see to installing new nuclear power plants.

The new bill marks a major shift from past policy, which had allowed the Italian state-run utilities, ENEL and ENI, to invest in nuclear research and even operate nuclear plants— but only abroad. The amendments were supported by all of the opposition and a few members from the center-left alliance, including the Speaker, Sen. Antonello Cabras. It will be taken up next by the full Senate, where a similar cross-party vote could take place. It will be more difficult to obtain the same result in the Chamber of Deputies, where the antinuclear lobby has greater numbers. The whole procedure will take several weeks, but in the meantime, a signal has been sent.