UK Should Consider Delaying Euratom Exit, Says Parliamentary Committee

3 May (NucNet): Members of a British parliamentary committee share the nuclear industry’s concern that new arrangements for regulating nuclear trade and activity will take longer than two years to set up and the government should consider delaying the country’s exit from the Euratom Treaty to be certain that new arrangements can be in place in time for Brexit. The business, energy and industrial strategy committee said in a report that withdrawal from Euratom is an unfortunate consequence of the prime minister's objective of ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. Ministers must end the uncertainty by securing alternative arrangements as urgently as possible, the report adds. Committee chairman Iain Wright said the impact of Brexit on Euratom has not been thought through. “The government has failed to consider the potentially disastrous ramifications of its Brexit objectives for the nuclear industry,” he said. “Ministers must act as urgently as possible. The repercussions of failing to do so are huge. The continued operations of the UK nuclear industry are at risk.” In a position paper published on 3 May 2017, the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, which represents more than 260 member companies, said the government needs to work closely with industry to bring about replacement arrangements for Euratom to avoid “a cliff edge” for the nuclear industry. The paper sets out priority areas for negotiations with the European Commission. The paper also sets out steps the UK government needs to take to avoid “serious disruption” to normal nuclear business in the UK and across the EU. The 1957 Euratom Treaty governs the peaceful use of nuclear energy within the EU. The NIA paper is online: http://bit.ly/2p51cmo