Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what further stages the UK's nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States has to pass before final ratification by both countries; and how long they estimate this process will take.

The bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States of America was signed on 4 May 2018 and the text of the agreement was transmitted by the President of the United States to US Congress on 7 May 2018, initiating the ratification process.

Ratification in the US requires the agreement to remain in Congress for 90 joint sitting days, whereby the US Senate and House of Representatives both sit, and the consent of two-thirds of the US Senate. Congress also has the option of adopting either a joint resolution of approval, with or without conditions, or standalone legislation that could approve the agreement. UK officials have held detailed discussions with the US and both sides are satisfied that this process can be completed ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from Euratom.

In the United Kingdom, the agreement will be presented to Parliament prior to ratification, in accordance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, during the course of 2018.