Italy just voted to let nuclear power back into its energy mix.
Italy's parliament passed a vote backing a return to nuclear energy, reversing a policy that has kept the country without operating nuclear plants for decades. Lawmakers pushing the measure argue it can help stabilize the country's energy supply and cut reliance on imported fuel. The vote itself does not build a single reactor - it sets the political direction for legislation and investment still to come. Any actual plants are years away, pending further approvals, siting, and financing.
Italy's aversion to nuclear power traces back to a referendum held in the aftermath of Chernobyl, and it hardened further after Fukushima. A reversal this significant puts Italy alongside a broader European trend of governments reconsidering nuclear as they try to cut emissions and reduce dependence on imported gas. It also suggests the political cost of backing nuclear power, once close to untouchable in Italian politics, has dropped.
A parliamentary vote is the easy part - building reactors is a decades-long, capital-heavy bet, and Italy hasn't run one since before most of its current lawmakers took office.