Sardinia and nuclear waste: minister Pichetto Fratin says it would be "absurd" to bring it to the island

Italy's Minister of Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, said on Monday, 2 November, in La Maddalena that he finds it "absurd" for nuclear waste to be transported all the way to Sardinia. The minister spoke on the sidelines of the event marking the 30th anniversary of the La Maddalena Archipelago National Park, according to ANSA and Teleborsa.

What he said. "The waste is a high-intensity material, it fits in 200 square metres, it can be stored in any non-seismic area," Pichetto Fratin said, as quoted by Teleregione Live, adding that the debate in Sardinia seems to him "more agitation than substance". The minister said the government will set the procedures that, in the coming years, will determine the storage site. He separated the issue from the radioactive waste produced daily by hospitals, which, he said, currently travels from Sardinia to the mainland.

Background. On 29 October, at the conference marking 20 years of Confindustria Energia, the minister had said that if there are no voluntary applications, military areas could be considered for the national repository for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, which "must be done within a year", according to Cagliaripad. The Sardinian regional government called the remarks "very serious", recalled that the island bears about 65% of the country's military easements and asked the minister to clarify whether any of the areas under consideration are on the island, Sardiniapost reports.

The figures. The national map of suitable areas, published in December 2023, includes eight areas in Sardinia, in 14 municipalities in the inland centre-south of the island, between the Oristano area and South Sardinia, according to the same source.

What comes next. According to Cagliaripad, the implementing decrees of the law of 23 September 2026 are expected by early December, and the government wants to set rules based on territorial and environmental constraints, including seismic risk, rather than a predetermined list of areas.

Real-time data for the island are on the island page.