There has been a bit all over the world, but particularly in our country, incredible blindness politicians and a large part of public opinion on energy prospects.
Suffice it to say that, in November last year, the UN conference in Glasgow discussed how to ban fossil fuels, including gas, to reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions. Again in January, the EU struggled a lot to include gas and nuclear power in the taxonomy (i.e. in the guidelines for the ecological energy transition), albeit considering them as temporary systems, useful for facilitating the first step relating to the overcoming of coal and of oil.
Suddenly instead the market, starting from the middle of last year, and then the dramatic Russian invasion of Ukraine, confronted us with the shortage of gas and partly of oil, with prices that have skyrocketed, up to more than 10 times those of before the crisis, to then stabilize at four-five times those of the beginning of 2021.
It is clear that we must rethink our energy strategy. And this is especially true for Italy, the only country among the more developed ones to have banned nuclear energy from its energy mix, except, however, having to buy about 15% of its electricity needs from neighboring countries that produce it in nuclear power plants.
Umberto Minopoli, expert on energy problems and president of the Italian Nuclear Association, intervenes in the debate with an agile volume Edited by Guerini and Associates, entitled "Nuclear power, back to the future - The energy Italy cannot give up" in which he confronts the clichés and hypocrisies that destroyed an industrial sector in which, in the 60s and 70s of the last century, Italy held a record, and forced our production system and citizens to pay for energy electricity a good 30% more than our neighbors across the Alps.
When it comes to energy, the first thing to understand is that there can be no economic growth without the availability of cheap and abundant energy. Secondly, we need to be aware that if we really want to achieve the ambitious decarbonisation goals that the EU has set itself for 2055, renewables, or hydrogen, or CO2 capture systems will not be enough for us, we need a production of stable electricity with zero CO2 emissions, just like nuclear energy.
Minopoli recalls that, in the European Union, electricity produced by nuclear power plants it is already today 28% of the total and it must necessarily grow, also considering that the need for electricity will increase much more than other energy sources, as it will have to replace gas and oil. Today in the world there are 441 plants in operation and 54 under construction. Finland has recently put into operation a new plant which has allowed it not to suffer from the blockade of Russian gas decreed by Putin.
After having retraced the sad Italian history of the abandonment of nuclear power with the two referendums of 1987 and 2011, highlighting the lack of foresight of Italian politicians, moved by short-term demagogic considerations when not by unmentionable interests, Minopoli gets to the heart of the problem, refuting the most frequent objections raised to the construction of power stations. In fact, many continue to maintain that nuclear power is not convenient due to the high construction costs, the risks that human errors could cause a catastrophe and finally the problem of waste storage.
It is simply shameful to argue that our country had to give up nuclear power because of the "unreliable" characteristics of its citizens who would be - which is not true - incapable of managing a complex, rigorous and difficult technology like this. Already today, third-generation fission power plants (fusion will not be available before 2050) are safe and, moreover, small-scale ones are being developed which present further advantages also from the point of view of costs and construction times.
Bad information generates fear, often exploited by populists of all stripes for their own political ends. The agile volume of Minopoli refutes all clichés, offers data and considerations of great interest, also dispelling the prejudice on the storage of waste. It must therefore be read: even those who want to resist on the NO barricades should at least make an effort to present serious arguments and not appeal only to the immediate emotions of the people. On the other hand, if all the developed countries of the world have a share of electricity production from nuclear power plants, why should Italy be different? Smarter or more foolish?
