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UTILITY WEEK | 21ST - 27TH JULY 2017 | 3 This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion 9 | Topic: Transformation Why utilities must adapt – by being more flexible, transparent and agile – or die 15 Policy & Regulation 15 | News EVs could add 30% to peak demand by 2050 17 | Analysis Ofwat's Cathryn Ross and consultant Richard Khaldi on PR19 18 | Analysis Ofgem says RIIO2 will be tougher than its predecessor, but how low can the cost of capital go? 21 | Analysis Will leaving Euratom be a disaster for the UK, as some MPs believe? 23 Finance & Investment 23 | News Warnings on Ofwat's PR19 price squeeze 24 Operations & Assets 24 | High viz Inspection reveals hidden grandeur of Belle Vue service reservoir in Nottingham 25 | Expert view Wheatley's Simon Murray on water deregulation and SMEs 26 | Market view Rethinking senior management roles to make the board ready for the future 27 | Market view How decarbonising heat could benefit the gas network 28 Customers 28 | News Ofgem and consumer reps discuss price cap 30 Community 31 | Disconnector GAS 27 | Market view How decarbonising heat could lead to a golden age for the gas network WATER 15 | News Yorkshire fined for 2015 sewage spill 17 | Analysis Industry experts on PR19 23 | News EIB loans £250m for green energy 24 | High viz Belle Vue service reservoir in Nottingham 25 | Expert view Water deregulation and SMEs 28 | News Retail water market goes 'off the boil' ELECTRICITY 21 | Analysis Showdown over Euratom exit 23 | News Dale Vince blasts cost of Swansea tidal project ENERGY 15 | News Reeves to head BEIS select committee 15 | News Tougher price controls to come 18 | Analysis RIIO2 and the cost of capital 23 | News Bond to fund smart meter rollout in UK 28 | News Convince customers on low-carbon heat CGI: Demand side flexibility in UK utilities http://bit.ly/2qOgC0R GORE: New Arc Rated Foul Weather Protection http://bit.ly/2ot3xrO Knowledge worth Keeping Visit the DownloaDs section of Utility week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Euratom has become a Brexit flashpoint From geeky obscurity to national front pages, Euratom has shot into the heated centre of political debate and public consciousness with astonishing speed. The pan-European nuclear body is essential for everything from the maintenance of safety standards in the civil nuclear industry to the trading of nuclear fuels and radioactive isotopes used in cancer treatment, through to regulation of nuclear waste. If you'd mentioned it to anyone but well initiated nuclear indus- try nerds a few months ago, you'd have received blank stares. So what changed? Brexit. In June, government confirmed that, as part of its extrica- tion from the European Union, the UK is also set to exit Euratom. Number 10 has drawn a red line on the issue, saying it is integral to the conviction that "Brexit means Brexit", which means leaving the single market. The decision was immediately met with consternation in the nuclear industry and, as politicians and the media caught on to its significance, the issue has snowballed. Fears have been expressed that, without Euratom, the UK will struggle to continue certain can- cer treatments, that nuclear new-build schemes will be undermined and that, due to an inability to trade nuclear fuels, energy security may be jeopardised. Provisions made to allay such fears in the Queen's Speech by promising a replacement nuclear safeguards regime have so far received short shri. New perspectives and complexities around the proposed Euratom exit are springing up le, right and centre mak- ing it seem ever more unlikely that a satisfactory replacement regime can be established in the next 20 months. These emotive issues have been latched on to by MPs of all rosettes, making Euratom, for all its technicality, a very real thorn in the prime minister's side and a test case for her shaky leadership of a minority government. If she caves in to the pressure to rethink her position, she will open the door for negotiations on every aspect of Brexit with a factional interest at stake. If she resists, she will do so in the face of compelling arguments from a broad church of stakeholders that her stubborn commitment to a decision, reportedly made in haste and without consultation, will damage the UK. She will also risk a Com- mons rebellion on the point. Forget freedom of movement, and free trade. Euratom is now the flashpoint of Brexit, and the rallying cry for May malcontents. Jane Gray, Deputy editor, janegray@fav-house.com Leader Jane Gray