Italy to sign nuclear protocol with U.S.-report

MILAN Aug 18 (Reuters) - Italy will sign a nuclear protocol with the United States next month which will give American companies the chance to compete to build nuclear power stations in Italy, the country's industry minister told a newspaper. Claudio Scajola told La Stampa newspaper in an interview the protocol would cover research and development and "give American companies the chance to compete to build one or more of the 8-10 power stations which the government plans in the next 20 years."

He said he would travel to Washington at the end of September to sign the protocol.

Italy decided on a return to nuclear power last month after quitting two decades ago and the government is currently drawing up rules for reviving the sector. [ID:nL9243744]

Italy is the only Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nation without nuclear power and relies on oil and gas imports for about 80 percent of its energy needs.

Scajola said that the four countries involved in construction of the ITGI pipeline, which will bring Azeri gas to Italy via Turkey and Greece, will meet in Istanbul in October to finalise discussions.

"It's a project we have been working on for four years and it is much further advanced than South Stream or Nabucco," Scajola told La Stampa.

The South Stream pipeline will bring Russian gas under the Black Sea to south-eastern Europe and is a venture between Italian oil group Eni (ENI.MI) and Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM).

Nabucco is backed by the European Union and will transport Caspian gas to central Europe. [ID:nL7162833]

(Reporting by Jo Winterbottom; editing by Simon Jessop)