The Takahama Nuclear Power Plant (Picture source unknown)
CNC officers
praised after safely escorting MOX shipment to Japan
Press releases about the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
are quite common on the Gov.uk website. It
is rare for government sources to host media information on the forces they have
nominal responsibility for. The CNC is
lucky in this regard.
The link below is the latest and describes the successful
escort of Mixed Oxide Fuel Assemblies to Japan using two purpose-built vessels.(i) CNC’s Special Escort Group have considerable experience
in escorting civil nuclear fuels etc. I
had the privilege of working with CNC on several occasions in the past when
materials were moved from Sellafield by train.
On this blog I often talk about the limited jurisdiction of
Non Home Department Police Forces. CNC
have a pretty extensive constablewick:
Jurisdiction of Constabulary
(1)A member of the Constabulary shall have the powers and
privileges of a constable—
(a)at every place comprised in a relevant nuclear site;
and
(b)everywhere within 5 kilometres of such a place.
(2)A member of the Constabulary shall have the powers and
privileges of a constable at every trans-shipment site where it appears to him
expedient to be in order to safeguard nuclear material while it is at the site.
(3)A member of the Constabulary shall have the powers and
privileges of a constable at every other place where it appears to him
expedient to be in order to safeguard nuclear material which is in transit.
(3A)A member of
the Constabulary has the powers and privileges of a constable at every place
where additional police services are being provided under section 55A.]
(4)A member of the Constabulary shall have the powers and
privileges of a constable at every place where it appears to him expedient to
be in order to pursue or to detain a person whom he reasonably believes—
(a)to have unlawfully removed or interfered with nuclear
material being safeguarded by members of the Constabulary; or
(b)to have attempted to do so.
(5)A member of the Constabulary shall have the powers and
privileges of a constable throughout Great Britain for purposes connected with—
(a)a place mentioned in subsections (1) to (4);
(b)anything that he or another member of the Constabulary
is proposing to do, or has done, at such a place; or
(c)anything which he reasonably believes to have been
done, or to be likely to be done, by another person at or in relation to such a
place.
(6)This section has effect in United Kingdom waters
adjacent to Great Britain as it has effect in Great Britain, but as if
references to the powers and privileges of a constable were references to the
powers and privileges of a constable in the nearest part of Great Britain.
(7)In this section—
- “detain”,
in relation to a person, includes transferring him to the custody of
another or to a place where he may be held in custody;
- “relevant
nuclear site” means a licensed nuclear site other than a designated
defence site;
- “trans-shipment
site” means a place which a member of the Constabulary reasonably believes
to be—
(a)
a place where a consignment of nuclear material in
transit is trans-shipped or stored; or
(b)
a place to which a consignment of nuclear material may be
brought to be trans-shipped or stored while it is in transit;
- “United
Kingdom waters” means waters within the seaward limits of the territorial
sea;
- and
nuclear material is “in transit” for the purposes of this section if it is
being carried (or is being trans-shipped or stored incidentally to
carriage) before its delivery at its final destination.
(8)In subsection (7) “designated defence site” means a
site designated by order made by the Secretary of State as a site which appears
to him to be used wholly or mainly for defence purposes.
(9)An order under subsection (8) must be laid before
Parliament after being made.
(s56 Energy Act 2004)
The provision of additional police services under s55A
(referenced in s56 (3A) is a controversial subject on which I may comment
further. Some observers regard this as
the first step in creating an infrastructure police/security service – although
such talk has been going on for 20 or more years.
In the context of this week’s press release the question of
jurisdiction is largely irrelevant as the journey was from mainland Europe to
Japan. The skilled efforts of the escort
group are an example of the highest level of maritime security – a concept far
removed from the normal role of police officers in the UK.
There is an old debate about whether constabulary powers are
needed at all for maintaining the security of civil nuclear materials. It was Tony Benn who authorised the former
United Kingdon Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary to overtly carry weapons
(although I have not been able to double check this fact). The sticking point has always been that the
carriage of firearms, other than by HM Forces and the police service has been
seen as a step too far. CNC is at the
forefront of armed policing in many respects and its Chief Constable has been a
leader in this field for many years.
I wonder how many serving police officers are aware of the hugely
complex work undertaken by CNC. Imagine
the logistics of this operation, the planning and training required. Consider the consequences if anything had gone wrong. In this operation, and in many previous ones,
the reputation of the country and the police service has rested with a
NHDPF. All involved are worthy of
congratulation.
November 2025
(i)
Mixed Oxide Fuel (or MOX) is a form of nuclear
fuel used in reactors. It uses plutonium
from spent reactor fuel which is mixed with uranium. It is a Class 1 material according to the
International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) and requires the highest level of
security.
No comments:
Post a Comment