It was with a big fat sigh of relief that I welcomed the news that Italians had voted against the building of new nuclear power plants. They had discontinued their nuclear plants years ago and Sunday and today, Monday, voted on whether to bring them back, by a confusing Yes vote in a referendum. The actual title of the issue (one of four, but I don't feel like covering the other three) was: Abrogazione delle nuove norme che consentono la produzione nel territorio nazionale di energia elettrica nucleare, or, Repeal of the new legislation allowing the production of electrical nuclear energy on the national territory. Over 90% voted Yes (that is, for repeal of laws re-introducing nuclear energy). But the cliffhanger (this is the land of opera, always a bit of drama) was that a quorum of 50% plus one had to be reached for the results to be valid. And indeed it was. Copious celebrations followed.
The results of the vote were also seen as showing discontent with Prime Minister Berlusconi, who backed the No votes. This also pleases me greatly. The Internet and new social media contributed to this. Good.
In the photo, we see that even the Colosseum objected to the possibility of being irradiated. Having survived so long, it is looking forward to a few more millennia in a non-radioactive state.
