The EURATOM Supply Agency

Journal Article · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · NUEXCO. Monthly Report to the Nuclear Industry

OSTI ID:104825

Lightner, J

With the coming liberalization of trade and industry within the European Community (EC) and a more centrally-coordinated EC external trade policy, it is timely to ask if in the 1990s there will be any significant changes in the commercial relations between the EC and non-EC companies trading in nuclear fuel. The key vehicle for implementing any change of policy would probably be the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) Supply Agency in Brussels, which is charged under the EURATOM Treaty with overseeing the equitable supply of nuclear fuel to and among EC companies. The EURATOM Supply Agency (the Agency) is a signatory to almost all EC-company contracts for transactions that occur on the territory of the Community, which includes Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. During the 1980s, the Supply Agency has rarely tried to influence the commercial decisions of EC member companies. The nuclear fuel industry has largely perceived the Agency as an administrative office that registers contracts and maintains relations with some outside governments, particularly Australia, Canada, and the USA. However, in 1988 the Agency began to have a more direct commercial impact when it reviewed the practice-previously conducted routinely by the EURATOM Safeguards Directorate in Luxembourg at the request of EC-member companies-of swapping safeguards obligations on equivalent quantities of uranium at different locations (flag swapping). The Agency`s actions inhibiting flag swaps, as well as a related de facto policy restricting material swaps of Southern African uranium, caused it to be viewed as obstructive by some EC companies. During 1989 the discussion about flag swaps and swaps involving South African and Namibian uranium has subsided, and a far-reaching discussion has arisen about EC trade policy in general.

• OSTI ID: 104825
• Journal Information: NUEXCO. Monthly Report to the Nuclear Industry, Journal Name: NUEXCO. Monthly Report to the Nuclear Industry Journal Issue: 255; ISSN 0742-4582; ISSN NUEXD3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
EURATOM
LEGAL ASPECTS
NUCLEAR FUELS
OPERATION
POLITICAL ASPECTS
SAFEGUARDS
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
URANIUM