from Sunday Herald, 16 January 2005
Armed police are being permanently deployed for the first time at all of Britain’s operating nuclear power stations to protect them from possible terrorist attack.
Officers from the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary are being stationed at Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Torness in East Lothian, and at nuclear reactors in England and Wales.
The officers routinely carry guns and are authorised to engage in “hot pursuit” of suspects.
The government and the nuclear companies stress that the deployment is not in response to a “specific terrorist threat”, but the move is seen by experts as a recognition that nuclear stations are now a potential target for terrorist groups.
“This shows that they believe that there is a real threat,” said Dr Frank Barnaby, a nuclear consultant who used to work at the government’s Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire. “There is a probability that an attack will take place.”
Armed police units began to arrive at power stations in December, though no official announcement was made. The deployment was ordered by Roger Brunt, the director of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security, which is part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“This is a prudent enhancement of existing security arrangements at civil nuclear sites,” said a DTI spokesman. “Security is continually reviewed and has been significantly enhanced since 9/11.”
The spokesman declined to give any details of the deployment, including the numbers of police involved, but it is known that there are a total of around 600 members of the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, all of whom are trained in the use of firearms.
In the past they have been based at only a few particularly sensitive nuclear sites, where plutonium or other material that could be made into atomic bombs were kept.
In Scotland they have been based at the former fast-reactor research facility at Dounreay in Caithness and at the semi-military reactors at Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway, but they have never been stationed at ordinary nuclear power plants generating commercial electricity.
The armed officers’ deployment at Scotland’s two commercial stations, Torness and Hunterston, represents a major escalation in security precautions.
Conscious that the arrival of armed officers might create a stir among local residents, the directors of Torness and Hunterston have written to their local liaison committees. The provision of the first “on-site armed response capability” should be seen as “reassuring”, they said.
“There is absolutely no suggestion that any of our sites are a specific terrorist target. This latest move is purely the result of a considered review of security arrangements and contingency plans by one of our regulators.”
Anti-nuclear groups regard the police deployment as “understandable” given the problems that private security guards have protecting nuclear stations. But they are disturbed about the dangers posed to civil liberties.
“Armed police will be used, not only to guard nuclear sites, but also to protect materials being transported in and out of the power stations,” said Pete Roche, a consultant to Greenpeace.
“This has worrying implications for human rights. Do we really want to live with an energy system which is so risky that it requires armed police to guard it? This is one of the fundamental dilemmas posed by nuclear power.”
