Nuclear Safeguards Bill: press statement

Dr Jenifer Baxter, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said in response to the introduction of the Nuclear Safeguards Bill in Parliament:

“We welcome the creation of a UK Nuclear Safeguards Bill which is urgently required following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and Euratom treaties.

“The new bill will ensure the UK has internationally recognised nuclear safeguards in place, allowing many of our activities outside Euratom to be arranged, such as new nuclear co-operation agreements, research activities and future trading arrangements for civil nuclear.

"The Office for Nuclear Regulation are the obvious choice for delivering this new function. They already provide excellent licensing and regulation of our civil nuclear activities and have an established relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency who will approve our new safeguards regime.

"Once these high-level functions are in place, the detail of Euratom Directives and possible Associations with Euratom can be worked through to ensure that the UK remains a global leader in delivering civil nuclear activities, including the development of standards, regulation, goods and services as well as international research collaborations.

“In April 2017 the Institution in its report ‘Leaving Euratom: A Framework for the Future’ recommended the Government develop a new Safeguards Office for the UK and we are pleased to see that with the introduction of this new Bill the beginnings of this happening.”

Notes to Editors

• For interview requests and queries contact the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Press Office on +44 (0)7912 408 096 or email media@imeche.org. 
• The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847 and has some of the world’s greatest engineers in its history books. It is one of the fastest growing professional engineering institutions. Headquartered in London, we have operations around the world and over 117,000 members in more than 140 countries working at the heart of the most important and dynamic industries such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.