Britain’s Nuclear Future Is at Risk Because of Brexit

A 60-year-old European community that governs nuclear energy, nuclear safety, and supports peaceful nuclear research—including exploration into building the world's first nuclear fusion reactor—sounds like a great community to be involved with, right?

But for Britain, which is leaving the European Union in 2019, membership in the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) will be a thing of the past, and now politicians are warning it could spell disaster for Britain's nuclear future.

Cancellation of Britain's commitment to Euratom took scientists by surprise when Prime Minister Theresa May included leaving Euratom—a knock-on requirement of leaving the European Court of Justice—in her break-up letter to the EU.

Now a new report from the UK government's cross-party energy committee warns that Britain's nuclear industry may be hit by "disastrous ramifications" if politicians don't work out how the country will maintain nuclear research, development, and safety in a post-Euratom Britain. Even the country's power supplies could be under threat if Britain doesn't pull a new national nuclear power regulator out of the hat in time for Brexit.

"The impact of Brexit on Euratom has not been thought through," said Iain Wright, chairperson of the UK's business, energy and industrial strategy committee, when the report was released this week. "Ministers must act as urgently as possible. The repercussions of failing to do so are huge. The continued operations of the UK nuclear industry are at risk."

While alternative and temporary options remain on the table, such as negotiating a membership extension with Euratom, it's increasingly looking like the UK will be left without a cohesive nuclear energy regulatory program. This will impact almost all facets of Britain's nuclear energy operations, from research to trade. For example, Euratom is currently responsible for inspecting Britain's nuclear facilities, and in nuclear research, Euratom lets the UK in on international scientific collaboration and access to a share of a 1.6 billion euro R&D budget. Even Britain's ability to import radioisotopes for cancer therapy is at risk.

"Exclusion from Euratom's research programmes could disadvantage national nuclear research, limit the UK's future access to global developments in fusion, and reduce the substantial business opportunities for UK firms supplying Euratom research projects," concludes the report.

The warning comes shortly after the UK started building the country's first nuclear power plant since 1987—the £18 billion Hinkley Point C in South West England. When commitment to nuclear safety and research would appear to be most needed, and just a week after the the UK went a whole day without coal power, Brexit's Euratom divorce is an untimely reminder of New Britain's scientific confusions.

Subscribe to Science Solved It, Motherboard's new show about the greatest mysteries that were solved by science.