27 Jan (NucNet): The UK will seek to leave the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), the government confirmed on 26 January 2017 in explanatory notes published with the bill authorising it to trigger Article 50. According to the bill’s notes, Article 50 applies to withdrawal from the EU as well as Euratom, the agency responsible for nuclear safety and security. The UK government had not previously said whether or not it intended to sever its ties to Euratom. Some EU lawyers had warned that leaving the EU would automatically trigger a Euratom exit too. However, an article in the US-based National Law Review in July 2017 said Euratom has a separate legal personality from the EU and is governed by a separate treaty and separate exit mechanism, making it possible that the UK could leave the EU without simultaneously withdrawing from Euratom. The Financial Times said today that the decision has “wide ranging implications” for the UK’s nuclear industry, research, access to fissile materials and the status of approximately 20 nuclear cooperation agreements that it has with other countries. Dr Paul Dorfman of the Energy Institute at University College London, said: “I know for a fact that the nuclear industry really doesn’t like it. It’s bad news for the industry, bad news for opponents and critics of the industry as well. It’s a lose-lose situation, whereby the industry becomes less competitive and less safe.” Dr Dorfman said the UK has bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements in place that are predicated on Euratom safety regimes — and all of this has taken a lot of time to put in place. “You’re talking about key safeguards and assurances that might have serious implications for UK new-build installations, the nuclear fuel cycle and the UK’s enormous waste and decommissioning liabilities.” The explanatory notes are online: http://bit.ly/2k8Rlgg
