Four decades after Chernobyl, Lazio's nuclear past shapes Italy's energy future

Four decades after the Chernobyl disaster turned an entire generation of Italians against nuclear power, the debate has returned — and the former nuclear plant in Latina, a coastal city south of Rome, has become a physical symbol of the divide, the Associated Press reports.

Viviana Cruciani, who oversees the decommissioning of the Latina plant, showed the AP's Rome correspondent the old control room, its dials and consoles still in place. The site is one of several closed after Italy voted to phase out nuclear power in a 1987 referendum held in the wake of the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Today, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government is drafting legislation to allow the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs), a technology backers say is safer and more flexible than the large plants of the past. The bill is expected to reach parliament later this year.