ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Edison, French nuclear reactor firm Framatome and Milan's Politecnico university have signed an alliance on nuclear energy as Rome considers a potential return to the power source with new and safer technologies.

"The parties will pool their respective technical knowledge and expertise in order to jointly foster research, development and innovation activities for the nuclear sector," the three partners said in a statement on Tuesday.

Framatome is owned by EDF Group, with an 80.5% share, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with the remaining 19.5%.

Nuclear energy is a controversial issue in Italy where nuclear-fired power plants are banned following referendums in 1987 and 2011.

Italy's right-wing government, however, supports a return to nuclear power and Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin has recently appointed a legal expert to study whether power stations based on new nuclear technology may be exempted from the ban.

In its energy and climate plan (PNIEC), Rome has envisaged a role for nuclear energy, estimating the power source could cover up to 11% of domestic energy demand in 2050.

The energy ministry is also hosting regular meetings of a committee of industrial experts aimed at supporting an Italian supply chain for foreign nuclear stations and being ready to re-introduce the technology if the ban is overturned.

"A contribution from nuclear energy in our energy mix would help Italy a lot in meeting the net zero target by 2050," Pichetto said on the sidelines of a meeting of energy ministers from Group of Seven countries in April.

At that time, Pichetto expressed support for the development of so-called small nuclear reactors, which nuclear advocates say could reduce costs and help decarbonise highly polluting sectors such as steel production.

Italy in April joined a European industrial alliance to develop such reactors.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Francesca Landini; Editing by Giulia Segreti and Mark Potter)