Italy's Leonardo, Enel and Ansaldo reach deal on nuclear joint venture

MILAN (Reuters) - Defence company Leonardo, utility Enel and power generation supplier Ansaldo Energia have reached a deal to create a new company to study the use of nuclear power, Italy's Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Thursday.

Addressing a conference in Milan, Pichetto said Enel would contribute with its expertise in managing nuclear power stations in Spain, while Leonardo could explore the use of nuclear energy in the military sector.

Italy's conservative government earlier this year approved a law paving the way to a return to nuclear energy, which was banned by referendum in 1987.

"The regulatory framework will likely be completed in two years and a half from now," Pichetto said at the conference, where he spoke via videolink.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Alvise Armellini)