The 1970s were characterized by a series of profound transformations, particularly in the field of energy, which had serious consequences for Italy, a country almost entirely devoid of any autonomous sources of energy. Indeed, the 1970s represented a particularly difficult decade: Italy was completely unprepared to deal with the first oil shock, which highlighted both the country’s internal structural limits and, most importantly, the inability of the ruling classes to intervene ahead of time. A similar situation repeated itself, almost along the same lines, in 1979. This article analyzes some of the main features of Italy’s energy policy during the 1970s. By going beyond existing studies, and using largely unedited documents held in untapped archives — such as, for instance, the Historical Archive of Enea and the Historical
Archive of Enel —, the article focuses on energy sources other than oil — namely nuclear — and pushes the analysis forward to include the second half of the decade.