{"id":93744,"date":"2018-07-09T17:04:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T17:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=139d5a804c83f31ff643893f4cb237a9"},"modified":"2018-07-09T17:04:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-09T17:04:36","slug":"press-release-uk-nuclear-safeguards-on-track-for-eu-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=93744","title":{"rendered":"Press release: UK nuclear safeguards on track for EU exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<ul>\n<li>government sets out the details of new nuclear safeguards regime<\/li>\n<li>nuclear safeguards legislation receives Royal Assent \u2013 UK on track to be able to meet international commitments once <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> arrangements cease to apply in the UK<\/li>\n<li>progress provides certainty to the civil nuclear industry and international partners as the UK prepares for <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> exit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>New proposals on the detail of a new UK nuclear safeguards regime to replace the current regime provided by <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr>, have been set out in a consultation launched today (Monday 9 July 2018).<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/nuclear-safeguards-regulations\">consultation<\/a> sets out nuclear safeguards regulations that would be made using the powers granted by the Nuclear Safeguards Act, which last month became one of the first pieces of EU Exit legislation to complete its passage through Parliament and receive Royal Assent.<\/p>\n<p>Business and Industry Minister, Richard Harrington said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The Nuclear Safeguards Act is one of the first pieces of legislation to go through Parliament in preparation for EU Exit and is yet another major milestone in our work to prepare the civil nuclear industry for <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> exit, ensuring continuity from day 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We are setting out proposals for the detail of our own UK framework for safeguards, demonstrating our readiness for EU Exit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Nuclear Safeguards Act addresses the United Kingdom\u2019s departure from the European Atomic Energy Community (<abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr>), an international organisation that governs the peaceful use of nuclear energy within the EU. The passing of the Act and today\u2019s consultation on a new safeguards regime provide a clear signal to the public, industry and international partners that the UK is on track to meet its international commitments from day one of exit.<\/p>\n<p>Nuclear safeguards are important processes through which the UK demonstrates to the international community that civil nuclear material is not diverted into military or weapons programmes.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement comes just weeks after the UK\u2019s commitment to international safeguards and nuclear non-proliferation was reaffirmed in Vienna, with the signing of 2 new safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (<abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n<p>These key agreements with the <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr> \u2013 of which the UK is a founding member \u2013 are another major milestone in <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> exit preparations and provide the basis for civil nuclear trading arrangements. This step will be welcomed by the industry in the UK and trading partners around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Further progress towards <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> Exit has been set out in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/euratom-exit-quarterly-update-april-to-june-2018\">Quarterly update to Parliament<\/a> published on 28 June, which outlines several key achievements, including the Office for Nuclear Regulation\u2019s good progress on preparations for implementing the UK\u2019s safeguards regime and the confirmation that all <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> specific text in the Withdrawal Agreement has now been agreed.<\/p>\n<p>The UK signed a new Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (<abbr title=\"Nuclear Cooperation Agreement\">NCA<\/abbr>) with the United States of America in May, which will allow the UK and US to continue their mutually beneficial civil nuclear cooperation when the current <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> arrangements cease to apply to the UK.<\/p>\n<p>This US-UK <abbr title=\"Nuclear Cooperation Agreement\">NCA<\/abbr> is expected to be the first in a series of new international agreements ensuring uninterrupted cooperation and trade following the UK\u2019s exit from <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>Details on how to respond to the consultation and to register interest for the workshops, can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/nuclear-safeguards-regulations\">consultation web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to editors<\/h2>\n<p>The Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 amends the Energy Act 2013 to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>provide the Office for Nuclear Regulation with a new safeguards function<\/li>\n<li>create new powers for the Secretary of State to put in place regulations setting out the detail of the domestic safeguards regime<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Act also creates a limited power for the Secretary of State to amend 3 existing pieces of legislation to update references to the new <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr> agreements.<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s Voluntary Offer Agreement and Additional Protocol were signed in Vienna on 7 June.<\/p>\n<p>The UK has been a member of the <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr> since its formation in 1957.<\/p>\n<p>The signing of new bilateral agreements with the <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr>, a Voluntary Offer Agreement and Additional Protocol, will replace existing trilateral arrangements between the <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr>, <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> and the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The new agreements ensure that the <abbr title=\"International Atomic Energy Agency\">IAEA<\/abbr> retains its right to inspect all civil nuclear facilities, and continues to receive current safeguards reporting, thereby ensuring that international verification of our safeguards activity continues to be robust. Such agreements have been put in place on a voluntary basis by the 5 nuclear-weapon states parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.<\/p>\n<p>The new safeguards regime to be established in the UK will be operated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (<abbr title=\"Office for Nuclear Regulation\">ONR<\/abbr>). The <abbr title=\"Office for Nuclear Regulation\">ONR<\/abbr> already regulates nuclear safety and security in the UK and has been making preparation to replace <abbr title=\"European Atomic Energy Community\">Euratom<\/abbr> as the regulator of safeguards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New proposals on the detail of a new UK nuclear safeguards regime to replace the current regime provided by Euratom, have been set out in a consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}