The chair of a UK parliamentary committee has written to the minister for business and industry to call for clarity on a series of issues relating to the UK’s relationship with the EU and Euratom and the government’s plans for civil nuclear in the event of a “no deal” Brexit. In a letter to Richard Harrington, business, energy and industrial strategy committee chair Rachel Reeves said there are some encouraging indications of progress on civil nuclear issues such as nuclear safeguards and trading arrangements. Nevertheless, serious concerns persist, particularly in the event of a no deal scenario. “In the event of no deal and no transition period, the ongoing operation of the UK’s nuclear power stations could be put at risk,” she wrote. “The government needs to spell out what it is doing to ensure that nuclear power stations continue to function from 29 March 2019 and whether it will seek a separate deal with Euratom in these circumstances. “The government also needs to be clearer about its plans to facilitate the building of construction of major facilities such as Hinkley Point C if restrictions on migrant labour are introduced in the future.”Ms Reeves noted that the UK plays an important role in nuclear research and urged the government sets out its plans to make up for reduced access to EU R&D funding for future innovation projects beyond 2020.
Nucnet 7th Dec 2018 read more »
Exiting the UK’s single market for electricity without a deal could “turn back the clock” for Britain and cost consumers up to £270m a year, according to new analysis by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The EU’s single market for electricity has been a “success story” for the UK and wider Europe, UKERC argues in a report released on Friday. Crashing out of the EU without a deal and leaving the Europe’s internal electricity market – which it dubs ‘elecxit’ – would lead to inefficient cross-continent trading of energy that could significantly push up UK generation costs.
Business Green 10th Dec 2018 read more »