Nuclear Engineering

Italy Makes Their Biggest Nuclear Power Plant a Waste Graveyard

Italy’s reconstructing its biggest nuclear facility for better or worse

By: Prisha Polra, Journalist

May 30, 2025

At the Garigliano Plant

The Italian nuclear authorities have begun clearing out and remaking a radioactive waste storage facility. It is currently the largest in the area. The plant is known as the Garigliano Plant and is located in southern Italy. This was done in an effort to align with the safety standards. It was built in the place of the Carson Nuclear Power Plant which was one of the largest of its time. The new facility is hoped to be far safer than the original. According to Sogin, the Ersba 1 and 2 facilities will be destroyed and rebuilt to align with current safety standards. The Ersba buildings are being adjusted through the internal structure. In all, 3,400 tons of metal are being ready to be removed. Sogin estimates about 88% will be cleared for unrestricted decontamination. 12% will be used for radioactive waste areas to store radioactive waste until final disposal. More specifically, liquid radioactive waste. According to Sogin, we should expect these renovations to be done in a year.

How It Impacts Italy

Italy’s getting rid of one of its biggest nuclear facilities for complete reconstruction slows down its progress thus far in making atomic bombs. There is a lot of capability for the radioactive facility to go wrong. It’s hazardous in general to not directly get rid of radioactive waste immediately and storing it could hurt the surroundings.

On the plus side, however, Italy reconstructing its facilities means that they will be safer and there will be far fewer casualties in those facilities. Even if it takes longer on the total rebuild, it could be worth the time because, with the new safety standards in place, it could be more efficient. If the facilities are properly reconstructed, there would be very low chances of leaks, and would be a safer place to store radioactive material. If only 12% of the land is used for radioactive waste, then there would also not be too much radioactive waste being stored lowering the odds of a spill by a considerable amount.

In conclusion, even if there are many things that could go wrong, the pros outweigh the cons. If you balance the risk and reward Italy has a very high chance of benefiting from this and it was the right move considering Italy’s experience with nuclear power in general.