UK: Secret files reveal covert network run by nuclear police
By joshuah at 21 October, 2009, 6:24 am
The nuclear industry funds the special armed police force which guards its installations across the UK, and secret documents, seen by the Guardian, show the 750-strong force is authorised to carry out covert intelligence operations against anti-nuclear protesters, one of its main targets.
The nuclear industry will pay £57m this year to finance the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). The funding comes from the companies which run 17 nuclear plants, including Dounreay in Caithness, Sellafield in Cumbria and Dungeness in Kent.
Around a third is paid by the private consortium managing Sellafield, which is largely owned by American and French firms. Nearly a fifth of the funding is provided by British Energy, the privatised company owned by French firm EDF.
Private correspondence shows that in June, the EDF’s head of security complained that the force had overspent its budget “without timely and satisfactory explanations to us”. The industry acknowledges it is in regular contact with the CNC and the security services.
Most of the nuclear force’s officers are armed with high-powered guns and Tasers. The CNC has spent £1.4m on weapons and ammunition in the past three years.
They patrol outside nuclear plants, with their jurisdiction stretching to three miles beyond the perimeter of the installations. They have the same powers as any other British police officer and can, for instance, arrest and stop and search people.
The body that regulates the CNC is also funded by the nuclear industry. Four of the eight members of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority are nominated by the nuclear industry as its representatives. Those four are employed in the industry. The others – mainly former police officers – are deemed to be independent.
The force is expected to expand as the government presses ahead with plans for a new generation of nuclear plants, which are likely to attract protests.
Source/Full Story: The Guardian
Technorati Tags: Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Energy
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