By: John Poirier

WASHINGTON - The United States and Italy on Tuesday signed a nuclear cooperation deal that would enlist U.S. companies to help build a string of nuclear power stations across Italy, ending a 22-year ban by the Italian government.

"Italy is restarting its nuclear energy again," U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told reporters. "It has aggressive goals, very admirable goals, in decreasing its carbon emissions through nuclear, through renewable energy, through improvements and efficiency."

Chu said companies like General Electric and Toshiba Corp unit Westinghouse will be able to bid on projects in Italy, which hopes to issue in mid-February criteria that would determine the location of the facilities.

Italy, the only Group of Eight industrialized nation without nuclear power, rejected it in a 1987 referendum after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

Italy aims to rebuild the sector and produce 25 percent of power from nuclear plants. That would help reduce Italy's heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports and cut carbon emissions.

The five-year pact, which was signed by Chu and Italy's Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola, calls for cooperation between the two countries to develop up to a dozen reactors. There is an option to renew the agreement for another five years.

New reactors can cost an average of at least US$3 billion to US$4 billion (S$5.67 billion) to develop.

Scajola told reporters after the signing that he hopes the facilities will be built starting in 2013 and will start producing energy several years later.

"The first kilowatt of energy will be produced in Italy around 2018, 2019," Scajola said.

The agreement creates a framework for the two countries to design new generation nuclear reactors with improved security and efficiency and it allows for the exchange of scientists, engineers and other specialists, as well as information and materials.

It also establishes a bilateral surveillance panel comprising of two representatives from each country, Italian officials said. The panel will meet to discuss the programs once a year, alternating meeting sites between Italy and the United States.

Scajola previously told Reuters in an interview that Italy wants to enlist the help of U.S. companies and he cited a partnership between Westinghouse and Italy's Finmeccanica SpA unit Ansaldo as the example to follow.

Under the accord, nuclear technology can only be used for peaceful purposes and does not include the technology to enrich uranium, Italian officials said. It also includes the treatment and storage of nuclear waste.

Scajola told reporters Chu was supportive of a proposal to convene a November meeting in Rome among high-level energy officials from the G20 countries.

Scajola said the aim of the meeting would be to find ways to ensure the stability of oil prices and markets.

--Reuters