Expert Advice to the Government of Ireland in its Cases Before the United Nations

The Situation

The Government of Ireland sued the UK Government in front of the United Nations International Court of Arbitration (OSPAR) and the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with respect to reprocessing and MOX fabrication in Sellafield.

NERA's Role

The Government of Ireland retained NERA to provide advice in each case. In the first case, a NERA economist provided a report analyzing the economic basis of UK government’s reasons for withholding information from the government of Ireland on commercial confidentiality grounds. The report provided detailed evidence from the market for managing plutonium, the market for uranium and the market for spent fuel. In the second round NERA provided a detailed analysis of the UK’s counter-memorial.

The Result

The UNCLOS case is currently ongoing.