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A first opening regarding the possibility of evaluating “an alternative solution” on the national radioactive waste deposit had already been aired at the beginning of November, when Daniele Pane, mayor of Trino, a town in the Vercelli area where the first nuclear power plant was built in the 1960s and then deactivated in 1990, had expressed its willingness to sit at the table to discuss the issue during a hearing in Parliament. Now, however, the Piedmontese municipality has made its availability official by presenting yesterday to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and to Sogin, the public “arm” responsible for the decommissioning of nuclear plants and the safety of radioactive waste, the request of self-nomination to host the national warehouse and the technology park on its territory.
Through the mayor Pane, the municipal administration has thus asked “to start a re-evaluation of the territory in order to verify its possible suitability”. The self-nomination was approved by a council resolution and is conditioned by some factors, including the successful outcome of the suitability verification by Sogin and the validation of the competent safety authority.
The Municipality of Trino, which, it should be remembered, is not included in the Cnapi (the national map of areas potentially suitable to host the depot published at the beginning of 2021), has therefore invited the ministry to implement a widespread information campaign for the population. «I would like to reiterate once again – highlighted the mayor – the reasons of security and opportunity that have always guided the actions of this administration. There is an absolute need for clarity and transparency on this issue and above all we need to arrive at a decision that is as shared as possible. Now – he concluded – the ball passes to the experts, who will say whether the Trino territory is actually suitable or not”.
Trino’s announcement was welcomed positively by the Minister of the Environment, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who, speaking on Isoradio, defined self-nominations as “the right path”. «Trino’s willingness to host the single nuclear depot is very important and is welcomed positively by the government – explained the owner of Mase -. It will now have to be verified on the basis of the technical and safety characteristics that the law provides for deposits of this nature.” That of the nuclear depot, Pichetto further clarified, who had a provision included in the latest Energy decree approved by the government and now being converted in the Chamber, which also authorizes the Municipalities excluded from the Cnapi to present their candidacy, «is not a problem of the past, but of the present and of the next decades, because every day Italy produces so-called civil nuclear waste, especially of hospital origin – continued the minister -. It is a very current problem. The waste from the past, sent to France, England and partly to Slovakia, are a few casks of vitrified waste, which we must return to avoid continuing to pay rent to the countries that host them, but they are not the real issue. The important thing is to provide a solution to the problem the country has today.”