All 1 Debates between Baroness Featherstone and Viscount Trenchard

Thu 22nd Feb 2018
Nuclear Safeguards Bill
Lords Chamber

Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords

Nuclear Safeguards Bill

Debate between Baroness Featherstone and Viscount Trenchard
Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Thursday 22nd February 2018

(6 years, 9 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 View all Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 81-I Marshalled list for Committee (PDF, 86KB) - (20 Feb 2018)
Viscount Trenchard Portrait Viscount Trenchard
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I wholly agree, as I think I said, that the right way is to continue to rely on Euratom until such time as the ONR can apply a UK-specific safeguards standards regime approved by the IAEA. My point is that it is not necessary and might not be desirable. On that, I am particularly interested in the submissions made by the Nuclear Industry Association, on which perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Hutton, will make an intervention, which I would look forward to hearing with great interest. We do not necessarily need to follow Euratom; I am not saying that Euratom standards are not at least as good as IAEA’s required standards but, in so far as they go further, it does not necessarily mean that they are safer. It may mean that they are more cumbersome or that the frequency of verifications is more—

Baroness Featherstone Portrait Baroness Featherstone
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I thank the noble Viscount for giving way. Is he aware that the Government’s declared intention is to reach the Euratom standard, regardless of this debate?