Italy plans nuclear plant near Venice

Does Italy want to drive tourists away? A new nuclear power plant is planned—in a location surprisingly close to Venice.

Italy is currently a country without nuclear power plants. More than 20 years ago, voters decided in a referendum against the use of nuclear energy. But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi no longer seems to care about that—he wants to build new nuclear power plants in Italy. Within just 20 years, they are supposed to supply 20 percent of the country’s electricity.

The location being considered is none other than the charming town of Chioggia, in the south of the Venetian Lagoon. Chioggia is truly ancient—in 2000 BC, the companions of the Trojan prince Aeneas were already settled here. Later, the town was occupied by Etruscans, Romans, Lombards and others. Today, Chioggia is a delightful fishing town with friendly, if quarrelsome, residents, which is overrun by tourists every summer.

Crowds of German visitors have taken the ferry from here to Venice, strolled through the narrow lanes of the old town, or enjoyed a beach holiday on the miles of broad beaches with their pleasantly fine sand.

Austria’s Kronen Zeitung writes that the planned reactor type is notorious for its safety shortcomings. Opposition is already taking shape—not only in Italy, but also in Carinthia and as far as Styria.

Summer tourism is vital to Chioggia’s economic survival. But will Italians, Germans and Austrians still come here and lie on the beach when they can feel the cooling tower of a nuclear power plant looming behind them?

Perhaps it won’t come to that. Another site being considered for a nuclear power plant is Monfalcone, nearby, between Trieste and Grado. The town lies right on the border with Slovenia. Building a nuclear power plant here would certainly attract somewhat less attention.