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The government’s decision to quit the Euratom treaty has put the future of the UK’s nuclear industry at risk, the House of Lords has been warned.
Speaking during an upper house debate on the Parliamentary bill triggering the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, former trade and industry secretary Lord Hutton described parallel moves to pull out of Euratom as a potential “catastrophe”.
Lord Hutton warned his fellow peers that it will not be possible for the UK to continue trading in nuclear materials and services unless it is able to replace the arrangements laid out in the Euratom treaty.
“We face this rather grim and desperate situation where we might find ourselves without any internationally recognised nuclear safeguards operating in the UK.”
He said that unlike any other sector of the economy, nuclear could not operate purely under the umbrella of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules.
“If we were to leave without having these alternative arrangements in place, it would not be possible for companies in the United States, Canada, Japan, India, South Korea or many of our nuclear allies, not least our European friends and partners, to continue to trade with us in nuclear goods and services.
“This would be a catastrophe for the industry and we should be under no illusion about that,” said Lord Hutton who was supporting an amendment to the bill designed to safeguard the UK’s participation in the Euratom treaty arrangements.
Hutton, who is also chair of the Nuclear Industries Association, said the government needed to ensure arrangements to safeguard the UK’s nuclear security.
“They have a choice, which is to take their time on this and make sure that there is no cliff edge when we leave, because the consequences of leaving without these alternative arrangements in place would really be so serious for the nuclear industry as to raise a genuine question mark about its future in this country.”
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Teverson, who tabled the amendment, described Britain’s potential withdrawal from Euratom as a “hazardous route to go down.”
However, following a two-hour debate that took place immediately after the Lords had voted to maintain the rights of non-British EU residents, he withdrew the amendment.
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