Leaving the EU: The Euratom Treaty, Part 1: Challenges and Opportunities

The Government’s desire to make a clean break from the EU and therefore leave the Euratom Treaty presents the UK nuclear sector with a significant challenge in making alternative mitigating arrangements.

These arrangements are needed to be able to continue to operate our nuclear fleet within an international framework, build new power stations, maintain fuel routes and continue to lead nuclear research. 

The time needed to make these arrangements is particularly critical, therefore identifying what needs to be done as a priority and negotiating sufficient time to implement changes is of the utmost importance. This paper begins to explore the implications of Euratom departure, the opportunities and threats created, and recommendations towards a strategy safeguarding UK nuclear interests.