Complexity of UK withdrawing from Euratom made clear by European Commission

That is according to Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) chief executive Tom Greatrex, who has urged the UK government to establish a new nuclear safeguarding regime and replicate current trading arrangements with the Euratom community after Brexit.

Euratom, which was established in 1957 alongside the European Economic Community, regulates the nuclear industry across Europe.

Brexit secretary David Davis has said the UK would leave Euratom when it departs the Bloc, and would replace the nuclear regulator with a new UK regime.

Greatrex added that the Commission’s stance also made it clear the UK would no longer be a part of Euratom after Brexit.

Greatrex said: “The complexity of the issue is clear from the paper, and while resolving safeguarding matters and the ownership of fissile nuclear material before March 2019 is a critical one, it is just the first of a series of issues that must be resolved.”

He added that as well as establishing a new UK safeguarding regime and replicating the current trading arrangements, the government would need to ratify new Nuclear Cooperation Agreements with key nuclear markets outside of Euratom.

“[The government would also need to] establish a new funding regime for the UK to continue its involvement in world-leading nuclear research and development, and ensure the mobility of nuclear specific skills to and from the UK,” Greatrex said.

More information about the EC’s latest position paper on Euratom can be found here.