Italy's national nuclear waste manager Sogin has received formal parliamentary approval to take on expanded responsibilities. On August 5, the Italian Senate gave final clearance to the Infrastructure Decree Law (Bill No. 2001), which assigns Sogin two specific new mandates: handling radioactive waste from a retired military research reactor and managing the return of fissile material to the United States from a university-held converter.
What Parliament Approved
• New authority on military waste: Sogin will now formally manage the radioactive waste from the Navy's RTS-1 Galileo Galilei reactor at the CISAM military facility near Pisa, transferring this responsibility from the Defense Ministry to the civilian nuclear agency.
• International obligation: The company is tasked with repatriating special nuclear materials from the Euracos converter held by the University of Pavia to the U.S., a long-standing diplomatic commitment.
• Consolidation of expertise: Sogin CEO Gian Luca Artizzu described the parliamentary vote as "a confirmation of the government's confidence in our company and a further expansion of our responsibilities in the nuclear sector."
The Military Reactor: RTS-1 Galileo Galilei
Tucked within the CISAM complex in San Piero a Grado (Pisa), the RTS-1 Galileo Galilei was a 5-megawatt thermal research reactor built in 1961 to study nuclear propulsion for naval vessels. It achieved criticality in April 1963 and was permanently shut down in March 1980.
For the past four decades, the facility has remained in a slow-motion decommissioning process managed internally by the Italian Navy's Defense Ministry. Irradiated uranium was moved to the Saluggia temporary storage facility in Piedmont by 1986; unused fuel was shipped to France in 2002. Yet the reactor pool, control rods, experimental equipment, and contaminated metallic structures have remained in place at the CISAM site.
Under the newly enacted law, Sogin will formally assume responsibility for treatment, conditioning, and disposal of all remaining waste. This handover is significant because it transfers a decades-old liability from the Defense Ministry to Italy's civilian nuclear waste agency, consolidating expertise and accountability under one roof.
The Pavia Converter and the U.S. Connection
The second mandate embedded in the Infrastructure Law concerns the Euracos converter, an enriched uranium device held by the University of Pavia. The law formally tasks Sogin with organizing the repatriation of special fissile nuclear materials back to the United States, where the original fuel originated under Cold War-era research agreements.
While the government has not disclosed a specific timeline for this operation, similar material returns in Europe typically involve months of logistics, security coordination, and diplomatic clearance. This operation involves direct return to the source country, avoiding complications that have arisen with other waste repatriation efforts.
What This Means for Residents
For most Italians, Sogin's expanded role will be invisible in daily life—but the decision reflects ongoing efforts to manage Italy's nuclear legacy systematically. The parliamentary action consolidates responsibility for both civilian and military radioactive materials under a single agency, which proponents argue will improve coordination and transparency.
Sogin currently oversees the dismantling of four commercial reactors, four fuel-cycle research facilities, one fuel fabrication plant, and the Ispra-1 research reactor. These two new mandates—military reactor waste and fissile material repatriation—extend the company's reach beyond civilian power stations into the defense sector and international logistics, positioning it as Italy's central entity for managing the country's radioactive legacy.
Italy's Broader Nuclear Challenge
Separate from this legislative action, Italy continues to grapple with longer-term decommissioning challenges. The country abandoned deep geological repositories after public opposition in 2003, and currently lacks a functioning national disposal site for radioactive waste. This stands in contrast to Nordic neighbors: Finland's Onkalo facility has been accepting spent fuel since 2023, and Sweden has approved a similar structure at Forsmark expected online in the late 2030s.
The newly passed law arrives amid a broader legislative push toward sustainable nuclear energy. A separate framework bill passed the Chamber of Deputies on June 4 and was expected to clear the Senate by early August, laying groundwork for Italy to explore small modular reactors and other advanced technologies—effectively reopening discussion of nuclear power generation for the first time since the 1987 post-Chernobyl referendum.
The Road Ahead
With Parliament's backing secured, Sogin must now translate legislative authority into operational reality. For the CISAM reactor, that means detailed engineering studies, radiation mapping, and fabrication of specialized waste containers. For the Pavia Euracos converter, coordination with U.S. authorities and transport security will be paramount.
The parliamentary approval reflects political confidence in Sogin's competence to manage these expanded responsibilities. How quickly and transparently the company executes these mandates will be watched closely by residents in communities near nuclear sites and by environmental advocates monitoring Italy's approach to its radioactive legacy.
