Il Italy's farewell to nuclear power continues to be impervious. This is testified by the words of Luca Desiata, managing director of Sogin, the company controlled by the Ministry of Economy which has the task of dismantling the old plants. During the press conference organized on February 21 to present the progress of the 2018 works, the CEO was clear: "Today Sogin is awaiting the authorization for the publication of the Cnapi" (National Charter of potentially suitable areas for nuclear waste ): “As for the times, I confirm that we are even more at the limit, therefore the invitation to politics to make a decision”.
If the Government does not indicate the site suitable for storing the waste, it will not be possible to go ahead. This is why the alarm launched by Desiata becomes even more significant: “If we were at the limit in December – he said – today we are even more at the limit. If the no impediment document arrives quickly, we will leave immediately”.
Desiata recalled that after identifying the site, others will be needed two years of confrontation with the territories, but if a territory is proposed, we leave immediately.
The appeal was accepted by the Minister of the EnvironmentSergio Costa who, remotely, tried to reassure: “In a year we should deposit the paper concerning seismic risk, and therefore the identification of possible sites. It is an option we are working on. I really think that we're doing it by 2025 to have the deposit. We have to do it because we have a regulatory obligation."
The regulatory obligation referred to is the return to Italy of waste stored abroad. Given the absence of a plant, the fuel from the old nuclear plants is sent to France and England to be processed. The price of the operation – obviously paid for by the taxpayers – is enormous: 1,7 billion euros. If a deposit to house this material is not identified within 6 years, Italy will be forced to pay a lot of money to keep it abroad. It therefore appears clear that the question can no longer be postponed.
As far as Sogin's business is concerned, 2018 was a positive year: the company achieved a volume of decommissioning activities (dismantling, ed.) for 80,4 million euros, 41% more than the historical average 2010-2017, of which 1,7 million euros of activities carried out directly by the company. ”
From the point of view of cost reduction, the company reduced the number of employees from 1.296 in 2016 to 1.173 as at 31 December 2018 (-9,5%), while operating costs fell by 11% compared to 2015 , going from 140,5 to 125 million euros. Orders from third parties also performed well: in the two-year period 2017/2018, Sogin signed contracts for 35,7 million euros.
"The 2018 profit - explained the CEO - from the first estimates is 4-5 million, a positive profit also improving compared to 2017, synonymous with sound management with positive results".
“By June we will present a lifetime cost plan as requested by Arera“, announced Desiata, specifying that the new industrial plan “is based on dismantling times and costs”, with the aim of making them increasingly efficient: “It is an anticipation of what we will send to Arera in June. And I will point out the risks associated with this plan in all offices, because the benefits we propose to achieve can be nullified if there are no boundary conditions". In this sense, Desiata first indicated the "strengthening of the Nuclear Safety Authority: we expect a technical strengthening of the Authority in the short term".
During the press conference, the "Open Gate Third Edition”, an event that will allow 3 citizens to visit, in April, four decommissioned nuclear power plants: Trino (Vercelli), Caorso (Piacenza), Latina and Garigliano (Caserta).
