by Michel Smith (Veshengro)
Armed “police” with Taser stun-guns, high-powered firearms, and powers to arrest and spy on protesters are patrolling, or should one say rather prowling, around Dungeness power station, it has been revealed.
The force, which has guards in place at reactors throughout the country, has been reported as being financed to the tune of £57 million by the nuclear industry.
Almost a fifth of this, according to the sources, is provided by British Energy, the operator of the Dungeness plant, which is owned by EDF (Energie de France), the company that took over much of the British electricity (and gas) network after the privatisation under Thatcher.
The site is being considered by the Government for one of the next generation of nuclear power plants.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), the name given to the force, had spent £1.4m on weapons and ammunition in the past three years, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Tasers
Its officers are equipped with high-powered guns and tasers and patrol up to a three-mile perimeter outside nuclear plants.
They have the same powers as other British police officers – such as arrest and stop-and-search – and also gather intelligence, based on preventing terrorism. However, they are NOT ordinary police officers but basically a para-military security force to protect power stations.
While they may have rather extraordinary powers and the title of a constabulary the question is to whom they are answerable and to all intents and purposes it would appear to no one else but the industry.
The “prevention of terrorism” is nothing but a ruse either in order to spy on ordinary environmental protesters and we also can bet where else those goons will turn up.
News of the force’s influence and surveillance activities has green campaigners worried, and that not without reason, I should think, who are expected to protest against the possibility of a new nuclear plant at the site.
Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace’s anti-nuclear campaign, told media representatives: “There are very obvious worries about an armed police force that is accountable to an industry desperate to build nuclear reactors in the UK.
“This industry will probably be very keen for their police force to use all the powers available to them to prevent peaceful protests against nuclear power.”
A spokesman for the CNC said visitors should not be worried or concerned about the patrols: “Most of the facilities protected by the CNC are in areas which attract walkers, birdwatchers and many other visitors.
“There is no reason that people visiting Dungeness should alter their behaviour.” He also said that if a new nuclear reactor were built there the level of security would remain the same.
The Government is to publish a new nuclear policy statement next year with a shortlist of those sites judged to be suitable, which will then go out for consultation.
© 2009
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