Respective Italian and French energy utilities Enel and EDF last week agreed a joint venture aimed at building four new nuclear reactors in Italy.

The plants would be the first to be built in the country since a national referendum in 1987, held in the wake of the Chernobyl reactor accident, shut down Italy's nuclear power industry.

The deal accompanied an agreement on nuclear cooperation between the French and Italian governments signed on 23 February. Enel says it aims for the first plant to be operative by 2020, which London-based nuclear consultant John Large describes as a "very tight" deadline. High capital costs, local protests at sites as they are selected, and an insufficient regulatory framework to satisfy private investors could yet stymie the plans, says Large.

Industry minister Claudio Scajola said parliament would pass legislation in April paving the way for an Italian nuclear revival.