The revival of Italy’s nuclear power industry after a gap of more than 20 years moved a big step forward on Monday as Enel, the country’s chief power utility, and EDF of France launched a joint venture to study building new nuclear plants in the country.

Italians rejected nuclear power in a referendum in 1987, a year after an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine sent shockwaves round the world and turned public opinion against atomic energy. At the time, Italy had four nuclear power plants in operation and a fifth was being built. They were decommissioned following the referendum.