Britain's nuclear police: misconduct and a missing gun

14 June 2006

The armed police who guard Britain's civil nuclear plants have been investigated for 45 cases of misconduct and faced 14 formal complaints over the last five years. In one instance, a handgun and ammunition were stolen from a police station.

The latest annual report of the UK Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) reveals that dozens of officers have been accused of criminal offences, dishonesty, harassment and other bad behaviour. In one case, misconduct was categorised as "sobriety" - presumably meaning the lack of it.

The CNC is responsible for maintaining a 24-hour armed guard at 15 nuclear sites across the UK, including Sellafield in Cumbria and Dounreay in Caithness. Formerly known as the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, it comprises 750 police officers and staff.

The CNC is the front-line defence against a terrorist attack on a nuclear plant, a threat which has been officially acknowledged since 9/11. The force's aim, according to its 2005-06 annual report, is "to protect against and prevent acts of sabotage and to displace terrorist activity."

But the report also discloses some of the problems the CNC has had to deal with. In 2005-06 it recorded 78 crimes, most of which were thefts, including one from the police station at the Springfields nuclear fuel fabrication plant near Preston.

"During the course of the year, a handgun (since recovered) and ammunition were stolen from Springfields Police Station," the report says. "This investigation is ongoing and is supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission."

There were five "formal misconduct investigations" in 2005-05, bringing the total since 2001-02 to 45. Last year also saw three incidents resulting in complaints against the police, making a total of 14 since 2001-02.

The CNC was put on a heightened state of alert in July 2005 after the London bombings. "During the extended period of amber alert, the Constabulary demonstrated resilience to deliver a high level of policing services", its annual report says.

The CNC also has a marine escort group responsible for guarding ships carrying plutonium at sea. Trained to use machine guns and naval canons, in 2005-06 it accompanied shipments between the US and France and from Sellafield to France.

Although hard copies of the annual report are being distributed this week, it is not yet online. "An electronic version will be available on the CNC website in the near future," said a spokeswoman.

MISCONDUCT AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE NUCLEAR POLICE

year / misconduct cases / complaints

2001-02 / 8 / 5
2002-03 / 11 / 0
2003-04 / 9 / 4
2004-05 / 12 / 2
2005-06 / 5 / 3

Totals / 45 / 14

Source: Civil Nuclear Constabulary

See previous story here.