A total amount of 135 M€ has been allocated for the years 2024-2026 by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security to revamp the national R&D program in the nuclear field. Within nuclear fission R&D, the priority and focus topics are SMRs and AMRs.

An improvement work of an anticoincidence gamma spectrometry system for the detection of noble gases located at the Laboratory of ENEA Research Center in Brasimone has been carried out. The interest of setting up and optimizing this instrument is linked to the analysis of the radioactive isotopes of xenon, which are of particular interest for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The SELENE project, funded by the Italian Space Agency, aims at advancing both technical and programmatic aspects needed to bring to industrial maturity a nuclear reactor-centered energy hub for a lunar outpost.

Sacca di Goro, in the Adriatic Sea (north of Italy), is one of the areas affected by widespread radioisotope contamination after the Chernobyl accident. A campaign was recently conducted in its lagoon to verify the current status of some radionuclides such as 137Cs, 40K, 238U, 232Th and 226Ra in sediments. 

In January 2023 Italy registered National Assistance Capabilities to the IAEA Response and Assistance Network, RANET. These capabilities are provided by ENEA and offered to requesting Member States.

In the context of international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), three international benchmarks focused on the neutronics and thermal-hydraulics of lead-cooled fast reactors (LFR) have been recently launched under the coordination of ENEA.

The aim of the project is to develop risk analysis and forecasting system aimed at protecting ICs and national strategic assets, especially as regards the prediction of seismic phenomena. It is believed that analysis of high-resolution time series of Radon concentrations in groundwater, air and soil may be a suitable method for identifying seismic precursors. The aim of the work is to devolp new sensor technologies to create a system for forecasting, simulating and mitigating risk related to the monitoring of air, water and soil matrix.

These last months have witnessed a renewed interest in Italy of industry, and the private sector in general, for nuclear. The reasons behind this are mainly the need to investigate options to help (1) reducing carbon dioxide emissions to cope with climate change issues, (2) decreasing electricity prices, and (3) increasing the security of energy supply by lowering the current reliance on foreign natural gas imports. 

International Workshop to share knowledge about innovative systems and technologies related to the safety of future and current reactors, supporting the technology transfer from research to industry in the field. 

An IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Forced to natural circulation transition in the Heavy liquid metal loop NACIE-UP is currently ongoing. A numerical benchmark will assess the capabilty of numerical codes to reproduce experimental data.