Brexit deadlines have put the supply of nuclear raw material for power stations at risk, a leaked government document has suggested.
The document, obtained by Sky News, shows that the UK is already missing critical deadlines to put full safeguards in place to keep the flow of components and raw material needed to fabricate nuclear fuel after Brexit.
The UK does not produce uranium. It must have its own safety measures in place, including a governing body to regulate the safe transport of the raw material, once it leaves the European safeguarding body Euroatom after Brexit.
Five “high-level risks” in setting up this government body have been identified by the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation, according to an internal “risk register” paper obtained by Sky.
Work on a new IT system, which should have started by the end of March, is already behind and the deadline has already been “irretrievable lost”, the document says.
The other four areas categorised as “red” on a red, amber, green (RAG) project management ranking including recruitment, lack of training for inspectors and funding.
Failure to arrange the “comprehensive handover” of hardware from Euratom are also cited in the document.
Preparations to ensure continued flow of nuclear raw material for power stations and medical use are behind, according to leaked government doc pic.twitter.com/VNsDd8rptx
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) May 16, 2018
The document was leaked just days after the chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, Tom Greatrex, warned that Britain could have a period with no nuclear fuel unless the safeguards were in place in time.
“Whilst you may have a stock of raw material to be able to produce fuel. Eventually, you are going to be in the position where you use that up,” said Greatrex.
He told Sky News the Brexit decision had created “a very exacting timetable” to set up the independent British body and there was “no shortcut” to achieve it.
Scientists have warned that British power stations may not be able to source nuclear fuel if it cannot be legally transported across borders. There have also been reports that shipment of medical isotopes used in scans and cancer treatment could be jeopardised.
“We could end up in a situation where you have got a perfectly well-functioning fleet of nuclear power stations but we haven’t got enough fuel ... We don’t want to end up in the position where we have got power stations and haven’t got fuel,” Greatrex told reporters on Monday.
The government said the UK’s ability to import medical radioisotopes from Europe and the rest of the world would not be affected by Brexit as they are not subject to international safeguards.
A spokesman for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it had made “significant progress in preparing to leave Euratom to ensure safeguards are in place from day one”.
“The nuclear safeguards bill is making good progress through parliament and we continue to work closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation to ensure we continue to have a robust regime in place.”
The spokesman added that the UK had signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the US, which it was hoped would be the first of a series of deals to ensure no disruption to the nuclear supply chain.
