Brexit and Regulations

radiation safety laws in a “Brexit bonfire” have provoked resistance from
regulators and trade unionists, opposition from Scottish ministers, and alarm
from campaigners. The Cabinet Office has published a list of more than 2,400
European Union (EU) laws which are under review as part of the Government’s bid
to scrap them. They include 10 key regulations designed to protect the public
and workers from nuclear accidents and radiation leaks. The UK Office for Nuclear
Regulation (ORN), which oversees safety at civil and military nuclear sites,
told The Ferret it was trying “to preserve the legislative framework” to meet
the “highest international standards”. The trade union Prospect, which
represents scientists and engineers in the nuclear industry, accused UK
ministers of “trying to weaken or dismantle a regulatory framework that has
served the UK well over many decades”. The Scottish Government attacked
Westminster for “rolling back 47 years of protections in a rush to impose a
deregulated race to the bottom”. Campaigners are worried by the dangers of
“watering down” nuclear safety law, and demand tougher legal protections.



A bill to remove
“retained EU law” was introduced to the UK Parliament by the former business
minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, in September. It contains a “sunset” clause
requiring all remaining EU law to be repealed or assimilated by the end of
2023, though this can be extended to 2026. Among the laws under threat is the 2019
Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations which
compel councils and companies to draw up emergency plans to deal with nuclear
accidents. According to UK Government guidance in 2015, the regulations are
“key” to ensuring that the public is “properly protected”. An ONR spokesperson
told The Ferret: “We are in discussions with the Government to preserve the
legislative framework that allows us to hold the nuclear sector to account
consistent with the highest international standards.” According to the veteran
nuclear critic Pete Roche, this meant that the ONR was resisting the UK
Government’s plans. “Reading between the lines, it looks as though the ONR is
planning to fight any proposals to make drastic changes to nuclear regulation,”
he said. “In recent meetings I have been involved in, ONR representatives have
stressed the need to uphold the highest international standards. I can only
hope I am not being overly optimistic and that they stick to their guns.”  The 50-strong group of Nuclear Free Local
Authorities was “gravely concerned” about the “threat to water down legislation
which provides the public or our environment with protection from the
operational or legacy risks posed by civil nuclear power”. The group’s chairman
David Blackburn, a Green councillor from Leeds, said: “If European regulations
providing protection are to be removed, we will press Government ministers to
instead enact equivalent, or preferably stronger, laws into UK domestic legislation.”
The environmental campaigner and former director of Friends of the Earth
Scotland, Dr Richard Dixon, thought that the EU gave the public and workers
“vital protections” against radiation risks.



 



Herald 13th
Nov 2022



https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23121029.revealed-fears-brexit-threat-nuclear-safety-laws/

The Ferret 13th
Nov 2022

https://theferret.scot/brexit-threat-nuclear-safety-laws/