The battle between State and Regions is going on. After Puglia, Basilicata and Campania had approved a
number of regional laws that prevent the construction of nuclear plants
on their territories, (because they wanted to prevent any decision of
Berlusconi government about this), the minister Scajola announced today that the
executive will appeal to the Constitutional Court the three laws.
A decision "required for questions of law and merit". Why? The minister was clear about it: the three laws involved themselves in an area shared with the State
(production, transport and distribution of electricity) and
they do not recognize the exclusive jurisdiction of the state in
environmental protection, internal security and competition (Arts 117
paragraph 2 of the Constitution)."
Not challenge the three laws meant then set a dangerous precedent "because
it may encourage other regions to adopt negative decisions on the
location of infrastructure necessary for the country."
And nuclear power, however, is a key point of the Berlusconi government program. So, after making all the laws needed to govern without fuss and interference from the judiciary, now there is the Plan B: invest on the atom. Essential, according to the minister, "to
ensure energy security, reduce energy costs for families and fight
climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases."
The Council of Ministers will address the issue soon: already February
10 there will be the final approval of the legislative decree setting
out the criteria for the location of nuclear plants.
Presidents of the regions involved had immediately reacted: "Puglia is a region disobedient: we will continue to say no to nuclear power," said Nichi Vendola, governor of Puglia. Vito De Filippo, President of the Basilicata region, said that "the nuclear matter is not exclusive of the state" and stated that his region will "respect at all costs our territory and our choices". For Antonio Bassolino, president of the Campania, the Court could only recognize the constitutionality of the regional law.
Legambiente and the Greens party are asking, instead, what happened to the much
declaimed federalism of the Berlusconi government, given that this
government - said Vittorio Cogliati Dezza, Legambiente president - "continues
to centralize in an arrogant and militaristic way those decisions related to energy
policies, in total disregard of the Constitution, of the regional choices
and opinions of citizens".
With regional elections around the corner it seems difficult the government will officially announce the sites identified for new
nuclear power plants. But if it really wants to produce 25% of energy from nuclear power then,
as stated by the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency,
Nobuo Tanaka, we should have between 8 and 10 power plants operating in 2030 and of these the first in 2020.
There is, however, a fundamental problem that the government, maybe, has not taken into account. In the south, which had legislated against nuclear power, there are mafias that since the mid-90s have done great business with waste. So many trucks of
waste, often industrial, are crossing the peninsula to spill their loads in
the countryside of Puglia, Calabria, Campania, Sicily, Basilicata. A business that allows criminal organizations to dispose every year of 35 thousand tons of waste in a completely illegal way. So building nuclear power plants in these regions will mean putting in the hands of organized crime an even more dangerous weapon.
Marianna Lepore
List of military nuclear accidents
List of civilian nuclear accidents
List of civilian nuclear incidents
List of civilian radiation accidents
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