MOVES to take Britain out of Europe’s atomic regulator could strike a ‘tremendous blow’ to research at a top Oxfordshire science facility, its former director has claimed.

Prof Steven Cowley, who led the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy from 2008 to 2016, called on the Government to negotiate a deal to stay in Euratom.

Ministers quietly published plans to leave the organisation within the ‘Brexit Bill’ going through Parliament, which will trigger the formal process to quit the European Union (EU).

The Government says the regulator, funded by the European Commission, is ‘uniquely legally joined’ with the EU.

But the decision has sparked alarm in the scientific community, with Prof Cowley saying it was ‘critical’ for Britain to remain active in Euratom, which provides the lion’s share of funding at Culham.

The centre hosts the JET nuclear fusion experiment – the largest of its kind – and employs thousands of people.

The research is also part of a larger European programme to create the first working fusion reactor in France, ITER.

Prof Cowley told Research Fortnight: “By pulling out from ITER, the UK will be damaging both the programme and our own domestic research.

“Britain contributes some of the European costs but, more importantly, the UK leads on science and engineering.”

The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy’s current boss, Professor Ian Chapman, previously warned funding for his facility would be at risk if the UK quits Euratom.