The Role of Nuclear Activities for Civil Purposes in the Context of the EU Sanctions Against Russia

As a response to the Russian war against Ukraine, the European Union has adopted a comprehensive sanctions framework which adds further restrictions on activities related to the nuclear sector to the already existing export control and sanctions measures. The proposed work will focus on Regulation (EU) 833/2014, which imposes restrictions on the importation and/or the exportation of various goods, products and technology, alongside other financial and atypical restrictions related to Russia. Many restrictions therein are carved out by exceptions, allowing otherwise prohibited activities when these deal with, inter alia, the civil applications of nuclear technology. Against this background, this paper explores the lack of a clear definition of the concept of “civil applications of the nuclear technology" in Regulation (EU) 833/2014 and the dangers that may derive from erroneous interpretations of the exceptions in the Regulation. Having in mind the intrinsic cross-sector nature of the topic, such as the use of inherently scientific concepts within the regulatory framework of international economic sanctions and export control, this paper highlights two possible outcomes of the misinterpretation of the Regulation’s restrictions on nuclear activities. On the one hand, an excessively restrictive interpretation of the exceptions could prevent the beneficial application of nuclear technology, such as the production of clean and renewable energy. On the other hand, an overly liberal interpretation of the restrictions could allow transactions and operations aiming at pursuing a malicious use of the same technology.