Asked by: Emma Dent Coad (Labour - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to monitor the import of nuclear waste to the UK after the UK has left Euratom.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Under any exit scenario, shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel will continue to be supervised and controlled by the respective environment agencies of the UK when the UK leaves the EU. The UK will continue to meet its obligations for the reporting of import and export of radioactive waste under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, to which the UK is a Contracting Party, and as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a deal scenario, the Withdrawal Agreement includes an agreement with the EU that provisions of Euratom will continue to apply in the UK during the implementation period until the end of 2020, including the movement of radioactive waste and spent fuel. If a deal is reached, future arrangements in relation to the movement of radioactive waste and spent fuel will be subject to negotiation with the European Union on our future relationship.
If the UK does not reach a deal with the EU, the Government has put in place regulations, the Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel (EU Exit) 2019 Regulations, to regulate the shipment of radioactive waste. These Regulations broadly replicate the existing 2008 Regulations of the same name and will apply the current procedures for third countries to EU member states.