By Altin Fuga
“My decision is to not exclude Albanians from the great potential offered by nuclear energy. More economic and environmentally cleaner. The necessary regulatory framework is not still in place, but we are working with the Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The project is moving ahead. As soon as we are ready, we will reach agreements with neighbouring countries, Italy as number one. We will finance, together with the Italian government, a nuclear power plant to be built in Albania. And, if this is not possible, we will talk to the private sector in order to study the Balkan and Italian markets”, Prime Minister Sali Berisha declared to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Two months ago Berisha declared he was fully aware of an article written by Giulio Tremonti, the current Italian Minister of Economy and Finance. However, he has not discussed yet the idea of the nuclear power station with the Italian government. Berisha said he knew that the previous Italian government opposed the production of nuclear energy. “I have not yet spoken with the Italian government, because the previous government was against it”, Berisha said. However, with Berlusconi in place, things are different.” Berisha said he had already spoken to an Italian business group without disclosing its name.
Berisha denied that a site close to Durr쳬 the country’s main port just 30 km west of capital Tirana, was selected for the new nuclear power plant. “We just know that it shall be built”, declared Berisha, very optimistic that the nuclear power station could be built in five years if an agreement was reached between Albania and Italy.
“This country offers all the guarantees to produce nuclear power safely. We will have the best fourth generation [nuclear technology]. No one in the Mediterranean region will have anything to fear,” said Berisha.
Berlusconi government aims to reintroduce nuclear power
Italians voted in 1987 against having nuclear power stations on their country’s soil, one year after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union. Twenty-one years later Silvio Berlusconi’s government has already announced it intends to reintroduce nuclear power in Italy. Last week, Italian Minister for Economic Development, Claudio Scajola said Italy was aiming to begin building of nuclear power stations by 2013. Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti also has said Italy should seek to build nuclear plants in neighbouring countries facing the Adriatic Sea like Albania or Montenegro to meet energy demand in the medium term. At a meeting on the nuclear issue organized by A2A SpA on Wednesday experts from the group said fourth generation nuclear plants will not be ready until 2030-2040.
Energy giant Enel ready to jump in
Enel SpA is ready to assess the feasibility of building a nuclear power plant in Albania if the Albanian and Italian governments reach a cooperation agreement, an Enel official said. “If an understanding is reached between the two governments we would evaluate such a project,” the official said. He added, however, that until now Enel has had no contacts with Albania on the nuclear issue. The official admitted that representatives of the group visited Albania last December to sign “a memorandum of understanding over a coal project, but nothing was said about nuclear power,” according to the official.
