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Italy participates in multilateral nuclear safety projects including the TACIS and PHARE programs. In 1993, Italy signed an agreement with Russia to assist in nuclear weapons dismantlement, with an emphasis on improving safety. Program activities included the development of equipment and methodologies for radiation monitoring, the protection of individuals from radiation, and equipment to conduct operations in contaminated areas by remote control. Italy provided approximately $5 million to this program, which concluded in 1999. The same year, the Italian government agreed to join the trilateral French-German-Russian AIDA-MOX agreement, with plans to start formal implementation of the agreement in 2002. In 2000, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the assistance of the Italian NGO Landau Network-Centro Volta (LNVC) and Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA), proposed a European Nuclear Cities Initiative (ENCI). Complementary to the US Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI) and Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP), ENCI aimed at developing alternative civilian jobs for excess weapons workers in Russian nuclear cities.[1]

In June 2003, Italy pledged €1 billion (about $1.2 billion as of June 2003) for assistance projects under the rubric of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.[2] This pledge was made more concrete on 5 November 2003, when Italy signed two bilateral agreements with Russia committing €360 million ($413.7 million as of 5 November 2003) for naval projects and €360 million for chemical weapons destruction during the course of ten years.[3,4,5] Italy and Russia plan to form a joint commission to choose individual projects and monitor cooperation.  Italy's contribution in the nuclear field will be managed by the Società Gestione Impianti Nucleari (SOGIN) company.[4] Italy’s parliament ratified the 2003 bilateral agreements with Russia on 28 October 2004.[8] As of November 2004, according to ITAR-TASS, the Italian government had expressed its readiness to allot €60 million ($77.2 million) for the dismantlement of the Kirov-class nuclear-powered battle cruiser Admiral Ushakov.[9]  Additionally, according to the Zvezdochka newspaper, the Italians planned to spend €200 million ($257.2 million) for spent nuclear fuel storage projects at Andreyeva Bay.[10] Italian sources indicate that SOGIN has come to a preliminary agreement with the Russian Atomic Energy Agency to commit €66 million to fund dismantlement of three Victor-class submarines and the nuclear-powered battle cruiser Admiral Ushakov, €208.5 million for solid and liquid radioactive waste treatment and transport, including a mobile liquid radioactive waste treatment plant, and €45 million for physical security upgrades.[11,12] The Italian parliament is expected to take about two years to complete and approve contracts in these areas.[12]

In the sphere of chemical disarmament, Italy has committed funds for a chemical weapons destruction facility at Pochep, Bryansk Oblast.[5] Previously, Italy participated in infrastructure and energy projects in Shchuchye and had allocated approximately $8 million for assistance with chemical weapons destruction programs there in 2000-2002 in the framework of the Russia-Italy agreement signed in 2000.[1,7] 
Sources:
[1] Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Antonino Lantieri and Maurizio Martellini, "Italy," Chap. 8; in Protecting against the Spread of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons: An Action Agenda for the Global Partnership, CSIS Report, Vol. 3, January 2003, pp. 100-108, http://www.csis.org/pubs/2003_protecting.htm.
[2] "Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction - G8 Senior Officials Group - Annual Report," 2003 G8 Summit Web Site, http://www.g8.fr/evian/english/home.html.
[3] "Minister Frattini and Igor Ivanov Signed Two Bilateral Agreements, One on Italian Assistance in the Dismantling of Russian Nuclear Submarines and One on the Destruction of the Former Soviet Union's Chemical Weapons," Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy Web Site, http://www.esteri.it, 5 November 2003.
[4] "Italiya vydelit Rossii do 360 mln evro v techeniye 10 let dlya utilizatsii rossiyskikh atomnykh podvodnykh lodok," ITAR-TASS, November 6, 2003; in Yadernyy kontrol: Informatsiya, No. 42, 5-12 November 2003.
[5] PRAYM-TASS; in "Bryanskaya oblast. V Pochepe postroyat 'khimoruzheynyy' zavod na italyanskiye dengi," Regions.ru Web Site, http://www.regions.ru/, 11 November 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com/.
[6] "Global Partnership Projects Move Ahead," Global Partnership Monitor, No. 1, Spring 2003; in Strengthening the Global Partnership Web Site, http://www.sgpproject.org/publications/gpmonitor1.html.
[7] Government Decree No. 61, O podpisanii Soglasheniya mezhdu Pravitelstvom Rossiyskoy Federatsii i Pravitelstvom Italyanskoy Respubliki ob okazanii Italiey sodeystviya v unichtozhenii zapasov khimicheskogo oruzhiya v Rossiyskoy Federatsii, 25 January 2000; in The Legislation in Russia Database, http://law.optima.ru. {Entered 3/26/2003 NL; updated CC}
[8] Sergio Rizzo, "L’Italia distruggerà l’arsenale russo," Corriere della Sera, 2 November 2004, http://www.corriere.it. {Entered 12/7/2004 CC}
[9] Vladimir Anufiyev, "Atomnyy kreyser, nosivshiy imya 'Admiral Ushakov' i ozhidayushchiy utilizatsii v Severodvinske, demontiruyut s pomoshchyu Italii" ITAR-TASS, 4 November 2004; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com/.
[10] Nadezhda Shcherbinina, "Yest frantsuzskiy interes, italyanskiy tozhe" Zvezdochka, 3 November 2004;  in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com/. {Entered 2/11/2005 WDP}
[11] Sergio Rossi, "Un affare smantellare l’atomo," Il Sole 24 Ore, http://www.ilsole24ore.com, 17 January 2004.
[12] Franco Adriano, "Nucleare Russo, un affare italiano: Voce per voce la prima tranche dell'impegno con Putin sottoscritto da Berlusconi a Roma," http://www.milanofinanza.it, Milano Finanza 25 January 2005. {Entered 2/23/2005 CC}

Page last updated 7 December 2004

Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.

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