Political Uncertainty and Technological Development: The Controversial Case of AGIP Nucleare (1956-1962)

Abstract

In the second half of the 1950s the Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI), the main Italian state-owned oil company, founded in 1953, experienced an intense phase of development. It was in this context that in 1956 AGIP Nucleare was established: the new firm, completely controlled by ENI, had the task of establishing a first nuclear power plant in Latina, near Rome, attesting the technical capability of the group and justifying the expansionist ambitions of its top management. This chapter analyzes the case of AGIP Nucleare, focusing on three peculiar aspects: the national political environment that led ENI to foster a strategy that was independent both from private energy enterprises and from other Italian public holdings; ENI’s controversial international relations; the pattern followed by ENI to acquire knowledge in the nuclear field. National and international political and technological contrasts resulted in a peculiar development of the Italian nuclear industry: the successful establishment of the first three nuclear power plants, one owned by private enterprises, one by IRI and the third by ENI, was not followed by an effective national nuclear policy that could lead to further developments.