Italy has the capability to restart its nuclear power programme 20 years after it was shut down following Chernobyl, one of the country's top physicists said Tuesday.
''We still have the know-how. We could get going immediately,'' said National Research Council President Luciano Maiani.
Commenting on government plans to re-introduce nuclear power after it was scrapped following a 1987 referendum, Maiani said ''nuclear power is the only way to go''.
He said Italian scientists had not lost their expertise because they were engaged in nuclear projects abroad as well as being at the forefront of major international programmes like the experimental nuclear fusion project ITER.
''That is certainly the nuclear energy of the future but in the meantime we have to resume the path of fission power,'' Maini told ANSA.
''Italy must restart immediately, on a broad range of fronts,'' he said, predicting that the first new plants would be ready ''in about ten years,'' as the government plans.
Maiani noted that in 2006, the last year for which data are available, Italy got 73% of its power from oil and gas, 14.5% from renewable sources and 12.5% from foreign nuclear power stations.
He pointed out that ''most renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric and geothermal, will not be able to raise their contribution''.
''Returning to nuclear power is a must. For 20 years we have closed our eyes and not made proper investments - and today Italy is surrounded by (nuclear power) stations belonging to other European countries''.
''There is a gap to be made up and we have the know-how to do it but we have to start now''.
