Producing transnational nuclear expertise in Italy (1955-1987): a historical-ethnographic approach (NUCLITEX)

Focusing on the case of nuclear power in Cold War Italy, this research project analyses the transnsation dynamics of knowledge production involving political elites, official and unofficial scientific experts, the associative milieu, and the public sphere. It covers the period going from the beginning of Italy’s nuclear programme in the early 1950s, to the referendum of 1987 that marked the end of Italy’s nuclear programme. It investigates how Italian experts and counter-experts built their own knowledge(s) through weaving transnational links with other European countries and with the USA; how they navigated forms of public engagement to advance or challenge nuclear power programmes; and how they tried to produce and legitimate, or dismiss, alternative types of knowledge and expertise on the environmental and health risks of nuclear energy in Italy. While it focuses on an existing trend in the science and technology studies, it does so in relation to a EU country – Italy - a historical period – post-1960s - and a form of energy – nuclear - that have not yet been explored by academic studies. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach joining methods and theories from the history of technology and the STS, the project intends to enable academics and analysts to understand more fully the interactions between officials, scientists, and publics in nuclear affairs.