Italy's cabinet Friday named, as expected, Umberto Veronesi to head the new nuclear safety agency, allowing the agency to be operational as part of the government's plans to reintroduce atomic power in the country.

The other members of the agency's governing committee were also named. These were Maurizio Cumo, Marco Enrico Ricotti, Michele Corradino and Stefano Dambruoso, said the industry ministry in a statement.

"With this deliberation the operational phase of the nuclear safety agency takes off," said jointly Industry Ministry Paolo Romani and Environment Ministry Stefania Prestigiacomo in the statement.

Parliament must give its opinion on the nominations.

"I am very satisfied with the government's decision," said Fulvio Conti, chief executive of utility Enel SpA (ENEL.MI), who confirmed he expects to be able to generate nuclear power in Italy by 2020.

Enel has teamed up with Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), the word's biggest atomic company, to set up an equally-split venture in Italy to build at least four reactors. Other energy companies, such as Edison SpA (EDN.MI), A2A SpA (A2A.MI) and E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), have expressed interest in generating nuclear electricity in Italy.

The nuclear safety agency needs to detail the criteria that will allow companies to pick their sites for the planned facilities.

Observers expect companies to struggle to find local governments that will accept nuclear sites to be build in their territory.

Italy banned nuclear power in a 1987 referendum following the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union.

Government website: www.governo.it

-By Liam Moloney, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 06 6976 6924; liam.moloney@dowjones.com
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