Italy’s lower house approved a bill on 4 June to reintroduce nuclear power, setting a target for first plants within a decade, while Ottawa released a strategy on Monday that envisages up to 10 large new reactors by 2050. The two moves mark a concrete acceleration of a global nuclear push, driven by the need to double electricity output, meet net-zero pledges, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In Italy, the government argues that without stable, low-carbon baseload power alongside renewables, the country cannot meet EU targets of a 55% emissions cut by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. Canada’s plan, part of a wider electrification strategy, aims to double grid capacity by mid-century, with nuclear providing 15% of current supply and set to expand significantly.

Both initiatives confront deep-seated political and regulatory obstacles. In Rome, the law faces a long legislative path to implementing decrees, site selection, and the unresolved question of a national waste repository. Opponents cite the 1987 and 2011 referendums that rejected nuclear power, though the government contends that technological advances and changed public sentiment justify a fresh parliamentary mandate. Ottawa’s strategy, meanwhile, promises to streamline approvals by consolidating environmental assessments under the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, a move that has drawn fire from environmental groups and some elected officials. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed the announcement as another Liberal promise without results, reflecting a broader credibility gap.

This gap is not unique to North America. In Sweden, the Centre Party’s climate spokesperson accused the government of four lost years, noting that the Climate Policy Council found the country will miss all its climate targets under current policies, while hundreds of billions of kronor in green investments are stuck in slow permitting processes. In Germany, the new coalition’s reform rhetoric has met with record public distrust: 85% of citizens expect nothing from Chancellor Merz’s government, according to recent polling cited by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The term “reform” itself, once a promise of progress, now evokes fears of welfare cuts or bureaucratic expansion, a stark contrast to the optimistic modernisation drives of the 1960s and 1970s.

For nuclear advocates, the challenge is to translate legislative ambition into steel and concrete before public patience wears thin. Italy’s energy ministry must now draft decrees covering reactor licensing, hydrogen production, and waste management, while identifying suitable sites in a densely populated territory. Canada’s strategy sets interim milestones: two reactors under construction by 2035, five more planned by 2040, and a demonstration microreactor for remote communities by 2035. The next factual milestone to watch is the release of Italy’s implementing decrees and, in Canada, the federal financing policy due by April 2027, which will determine whether the promised C$100 billion-plus investment begins to materialise.