SOGIN

History

Following the 1987 referendums on nuclear power, the Italian government was required to decommission the country's remaining nuclear plants. SOGIN was conceived as the company to undertake this work.

SOGIN was created on 1 November 1999 and took ownership of the closed Caorso, Enrico Fermi, Garigliano, Latina nuclear power plants from ENEL. Initially, SOGIN was created as a part of the ENEL group, but, following the passing of Legislative Decree no. 79, the so-called Bersani decree on 16 March 1999, which marked the beginning of the liberalization of the Italian electricity sector, it was decided to split ENEL. On 3 November 2000, the SOGIN shares were transferred to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

In 2003, SOGIN also took responsibility decommissioning EUREX, previously owned by ENEA, the ITREC plant in Rotondella and the Casaccia research reactor in Cesano.

On 16 September 2004 SOGIN become a corporate group with the acquisition of 60% of the shares in Nucleco SpA (the remaining 40% being owned by ENEA).

In 2005, SOGIN acquired the nuclear enrichment plant at Bosco Marengo, which it subsequently started decommissioning in 2008.

The nuclear power plant at Trino was the first to be granted a decree for deactivation for decommissioning by the Ministry of Economic Development on 2 August 2012. This was followed by a decree authorising the decommissioning of Gariglian on 26 September 2012. In 2012, the company also started a three-year programme to decontaminate the boxes that had been used to store plutonium-contaminated gloves until 1986.

SOGIN is tasked to completely decommission all Italian nuclear installations by 2024.

National Repository

In September 2008, a high-level discussion took place within the Italian government about a central repository for all nuclear waste. Previously, waste material had been sent abroad, the last shipment to BNFL taking place in 2005. This led to, in 2010, SOGIN being given the responsibility for finding a surface site to store nuclear waste. SOGIN projects the Repository to be a structure with engineering barriers and natural barriers to store approximately 75,000 cubic metres (2,600,000 cu ft) of low and intermediate level waste permanently, and 15,000 cubic metres (530,000 cu ft) of high level waste temporarily. SOGIN predicts that of this, 60% will come from decommissioned plants. The remainder will come from scientific research, medical and industrial applications, both waste produced to date and that which is estimated to be generated over the next 50 years. The creation of the repository is a critical criterion for SOGIN to achieve its decommissioning deadline.

The repository is to be hosted in a technology park that will also host research and bring economic benefits to the community, including compensation administered by SOGIN. Despite this, the search for a repository has been difficult. In November 2006 the Italian and the French governments agreed to transfer about 235 tonnes (231 long tons; 259 short tons) of spent fuel to France. On this basis, in April 2007, SOGIN signed a contract with AREVA and a shipment of spent fuel from the Caorso nuclear power plant to France was completed in June 2010.

International Activity

As well as its core business of decommissioning Italian nuclear plants, SOGIN undertakes international consultancy in environmental remediation, radioactive waste management and nuclear safety. The company has undertaken projects at Metsamor in Armenia, Belene and Kozloduy in Bulgaria, Dukovany and Temelin in the Czech Republic, Phénix in France, Aktau in Kazakhstan, Ignalina in Lithuania, Cernavodă in Romania, Beloyarsk, Bilibino, Kalinin and Kola in Russia, Bohunice and Mochovce in Slovakia and Khmelnitskiy and Rivne in the Ukraine.

SOGIN has been actively involved in the G8 Glocal Partnership programme, launched in Kananaskis in 2002, to support and accelerate Russia's nuclear disarmament. On 3 August 2005, an agreement was signed between SOGIN and the Ministry of Industry for the company to dismantle Russian nuclear submarines. The programme required a specialist vessel, the Rossita, to be constructed, which was delivered in 2011.

In 2014, SOGIN signed an agreement with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), to share expertise on nuclear decommissioning, remove parts from the nuclear fuel pool of a Chinese plant, develop policies and strategies to manage radioactive waste and used fuel in China and undertake a joint study of an innovative process for the minimization, treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste in Italy. SOGIN signed a similar agreement with the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA) in the Czech republic in 2016 covering the storage of nuclear waste, including collaboration on a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.

Controversy

SOGIN has been criticised for lacking openness and participation in its decision making. For example, in November 2003, the underground salt caverns outside the town of Scanzano Jonico were declared to be a potential site to store high grade nuclear waste. In response, over 150,000 marched in demonstration, residents blocked roads and shut down businesses and the regional council declared the area a denuclearised zone. In 2007, l'Unita reported that Carlo Jean and Giancarlo Bolognini shared over one million euros as compensation when they were replaced as directors, despite the company allegedly underachieving.

In an attempt to increase transparency, SOGIN launched in 2014, with the Fondazione per lo Sviluppo Sostenible, the Osservatorio per la Chiusura del Ciclo Nucleare as an independent monitor of the social, environmental and technical aspects of nuclear sites.