The report recommends maintaining access to the Internal Energy Market and retaining membership of the Emissions Trading System until at least 2020.
The committee warns that any interval between the UK leaving the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and entering into secure alternative arrangements would severely inhibit nuclear trade and research and threaten power supplies.
The government argues that the UK must leave Euratom as a result of the triggering of Article 50, but the report states that legal opinion is divided. Ministers must end the uncertainty and resolve the matter by securing alternative arrangements as urgently as possible, the report adds.
The committee highlights strong concerns in the sector that new arrangements will take longer than two years to set up and recommends delaying departure from Euratom to give the industry more time to establish alternative arrangements. If this is not possible, the government should seek transitional arrangements, which may need to be longer than the three years proposed by the European parliament.
A 'rule taker'?
"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,” said the committee chair Iain Wright. "The government now has a responsibility to end the uncertainty hanging over the industry and ensure robust and stable arrangements to protect trade, boost research and development, and ensure safeguarding of the highest level."
Longer term, MPs are concerned that the UK will become a 'rule taker', complying with but unable to influence European rules and standards. The report warns that Brexit must not distract government from delivering essential climate change policies. It also highlights concerns that if UK standards diverge too far from those in the EU, the UK could become a dumping ground for energy inefficient products. The committee urges the government to mirror or retain European standards for the immediate future at least.
Commenting on the report, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association Tom Greatrex, told PE that the UK nuclear industry has made it “crystal clear” to the government that it needs to be discussing a transitional period now, to prevent the cliff edge the report warns about.
“The report, makes a number of sensible, pragmatic and realistic recommendations to prevent disruption, which the NIA welcomes," he said. "The government needs to take those on board and get on with serious discussion to ensure robust alternative arrangements are set up, in a realistic timeframe, to minimise disruption to the UK’s nuclear industry both at home and in European markets." This extends to the funding the UK receives for its fusion projects, he added, saying that the UK welcomes "the Committees' recommendation to maintain existing research co-operation with the EU”.
Jenifer Baxter, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), said that in addition to the report's recommendations, the government should also bear in mind that " the UK may struggle to access the markets and skills that enable the construction of new nuclear power plants and existing power stations may potentially be unable to access fuel".
In February, the IMechE released its own report, Leaving the EU, the Euratom treaty part 1: Challenges and Opportunities. In it, the Institution warned that without "suitable transitional arrangements, the UK runs the risk of not having an appropriate safeguarding system for nuclear material", said Baxter.
'Decisive action' needed
Meanwhile, Justin Bowden, the national secretary of the nuclear workers' union GMB, said the report highlights the government's lack of a coherent energy policy.
"Nuclear, particularly new nuclear, and the zero carbon power it produces, is crucial to the UK's future energy needs. In a world outside of the European Union, energy self-sufficiency is common sense and nuclear, alongside gas, will be fundamental in that reliable mix," he said. "Decisive action must take place now, the electorate will not forgive politicians of any political party who fail in their duty to maintain the electricity supply."
In addition, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has released a report which concludes that the UK has reached a critical moment for its future as a serious nuclear nation, and sets out a series of recommendations for the new government after the general election.
The Nuclear research and technology: Breaking the cycle of indecision report finds that the potential of the civil nuclear sector has been “blighted” by the indecision of successive governments and sets out the risks to the sector if membership to Euratom expires at the end of the two year Brexit negotiating period without a replacement. The authors write that the UK risks losing its lead in fusion research, as well as losing access to the markets and skills it needs to construct new nuclear power plants and existing power plants could be unable to acquire fuel.
Additionally, the report states that the amount of UK funding for nuclear research, development and innovation is much lower than other leading nuclear nations. “The UK has long-standing and continuing commitments to civil nuclear energy and is now strategically positioned to capture opportunities, especially for Small Modular Reactors,” said committee chairman Earl of Selborne. “The incoming government must end its cycle of indecision on nuclear policy and we urge it to take a clear, firm view on SMRs and wider civil nuclear strategy.”
Dipali Raniga, senior energy and environment policy adviser at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said there are already opportunities available such as developing a UK Small Modular Reactors programme which, if designed well and delivered expeditiously, could deliver across the ‘Industrial Strategy Pillars’ as set out in the green paper earlier this year.
“It would also contribute to delivering cost-competitive, low carbon energy, together with UK industrial opportunities in the supply chain, skills development and university research in the energy sector and beyond,” she added.