Category: Civil Nuclear Constabulary

A Little Light Reading.

Never let it be said that what I tend to read is frivolous in nature.

Well that’s what happens when one engages in serious campaigning work.

Yet needs must, as it is alleged they say.

So here are a couple of reports which I’ve been reading of late.

Civil Nuclear Police Authority Annual Report & Accounts 2016/17

That’s the body which runs the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which describes itself as an Armed Force.

The report was published on July 19th, and makes for some fascinating reading.

Aside from a lot of statistical, financial, and pension payments data – 

It lists the following Key Facts :-

– The CNC has over 1080 Authorised Firearms Officers.

– It operates in 10 nukiller sites within the UK,  but not Capenhurst, Chapelcross, Springfields, or Wylfa.

&

– It has a budget which is over £100 Million.

Here is the line in the report which I like the best: –

‘We are capable of carrying out our duties in a flexible and dynamic way, instilling in ourselves a clear sense of purpose.

If we use force we do so in a manner proportionate to the threat, recognising and upholding the principles enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.’

Thus the next time you are confronted by any armed member of the CNC – you can be assured that they will of read the convention, and will act with all of its provisions in mind – – – or so it is alleged to be that way.

So now you know.

Nukiller particles

This is the other really interesting report which every anti-nukiller -power activist should download and read.

Particles in the Environment   Annual Report for 2015/16 and Forward Programme

This is a report which has been published by sellafield Ltd.

It is the one in which they show the amount of radioactive particles which they have detected along the coast of Cumbria.

Though those are just what they have managed to find in their sampling.

 

The Unworkable Proposed Merger of MOD Plod, The CNC, and BTP

A Unique force.

There is one aspect about the Civil Nuclear Constabulary [ CNC ] which we should always state whenever we write or talk about them.

The CNC refer to themselves as an Armed Force.

They are financed by the nukiller power companies and have very close links with the MOD.

They no longer guard all nukiller instillations such as Capenhurst or Springfields.

They do not guard the nukiller waste trains which pass through our city centres, and neither does the British Transport police [ BTP ] .

Yet the CNC do have powers of arrest, with no public accountability about the way they operate.

An Unworkable Proposal

Yet again the bright idea of merging the CNC, MOD Plod , and the BTP to protect nuclear sites and transport links is being touted by the Tory party.

This is an idea which has been around for a long time, but was ruled out the last time it came up a few years back.

Just consider this:-

– 95% of the BTP funding comes from Britain’s privatised train companies.

– While part of the CNC is funded by the nukiller energy companies,

&

– MOD plod is a part of the MOD.

So just who would land up paying for such a combined force would make for some very interesting negotiations.

That’s aside from just what the various companies might have a say in how such a new body might be controlled.

or

If it might be liable to any form of public accountability.

Never mind their different types of ‘training and operational needs’.

Differences in pay and remuneration.

There are also variations between MOD plod, The CNC, the BTP which would cause a number of other problems should such merger go ahead.

All three of them have very different pay structures, terms of employment, and retirement schemes.

What is really needed

Thus I just can’t see how any such proposed merger might be workable.

Though there is an urgent need to initiate a public outcry about the way the CNC operates, and just how we might better safeguard all the nukiller waste sites way in to the future.

A Reply From The CNC On My Data File

I’ve just had the reply to my request for any data files which the Civil Nuclear Constabulary [ CNC ] might hold on me.

I also asked that this might include anything which they might have which was passed in the them by the UKAEA   [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority] Special Constabulary.

This is what it says:-

‘ I can conform that the Civil Nuclear Constabulary do not hold any information on you. The Civil Nuclear records are constantly reviewed in line with MOPI ( Management of Police Information ). ‘

In other words – They claim to hold nothing on me right now, they might of done so in the past.

I know of no other anti nukiller power activist who has asked for their personal data records from the CNC. So there is no way in which I can compare this with the kind of reply which any other activist might of received. So that’s why it would be really useful if a few other activists did so.

Any one what to take this up ?

New Guards At Springfields.

Here is a news story about one of the key plants in the nukiller fuel cycle.

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) are about to be withdraw from the Springfields site at Salwick near Preston.

The plant is one in which nukiller fuel rods and other key reactor items are assembled.

What is not so clear at present is just who will provide ‘security’ at the plant once the CNC have been withdrawn.

Will it be the local constabulary ?
or
A private company like G4S ?

Only time will tell.

Policing Cumbia

There are a lot of changes going on around Cumbrian,
and the Windscale / Sellafield nukiller plant.

Cumbria Constabulary, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary have just launched the Sellafield Policing Unit.

This new police unit has been created
‘to specifically deal with conventional policing issues that occur
in and around the Sellafield’.

The new unit will consist of 17 police officers:
Eight of which will be based at the plant and the rest at
Whitehaven Police Station.

Exactly who this new unit will report to,
and just how  it will operate in practice,
is something which will need to be monitored from now on.

The creation of this new unit raises some interesting questions about police accountability, and other civil liberty issues.

An ‘Armed Force’ & Not A Constabulary.

There is yet more evidence about how the Civil Nuclear Police
Authority [ C.N.P.A. ] views itself as running an ‘Armed force’,
rather than a more traditional constabulary.

This evidence comes from a news piece about Brigadier Mike Griffiths,
[ soon to be Chief Executive of the C.N.P.A. ] ,
in the Carlisle based News & Star.

Within the article their is a reference to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary as being a ‘specialised armed force’ which is currently responsible to DECC ( the Department of Energy and Climate Change ).

Though it has just too many links to the MOD ( War Office ) for my liking.

Griffiths is currently the British Army’s director of personnel,
and holds the title of Colonel of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Paper Targets

Here is the latest CNC tender which is now online.

Paper Targets for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

‘ Paper targets which comply with either the ACPO recommended type for re-qualification shooting or which comply with the CNC requirement for tactical shooting practices.’

This contract is worth £10000 – £ 15000.

I wonder which companies will be interested in supplying all this paper?

CNPA Annual Report 2011-2012

The Civil Nuclear Police Authority Annual Report & Accounts 2011-12 is now online.

Of particular interest are the following: –

– Page 14 – Firearms training.

– Page 18 – Which refers to its relationship with the Special Branch.

– Page 19 – Which shows the CNC exposure to radiation .

– Page 23 – Which refers to Hinkley.

and

– Pages 25 – 26 on climate change & greenhouse gases.

What is very noticeable throughout the report are lots of photographs of the CNC carrying some very heavy-duty weapons.

Very Scary !

Setting The Standards

There are some things which just annoy me,
those which worry me,
and others which really alarm me.

Fire extinguishers being used to prop doors open,
a failure to appreciate the importance of regular fire equipment
tests,
missed fire drills,
&
the failure to hold regular health and safety surveys combine all
of the above for me.

It is not because I’m worried about all the fire or Health and
Safety regulations as such.

It is not because I’m worried about complying with the legal
requirements to do so.

My concerns are far more fundemental than that.

It is because failing to deal with these things can result in either
someone being either killed or seriously injured.

Failures in the past.

It was a failure to deal with the dangers of fire in the past which
resulted in the kind of fire regulations which we now have in place.

For example: –

The Triange fire.

The Kings Cross fire.

The Tooley Street fire.

&

That at the Alhambra Theatre which resulted in the creation of theatre fire curtains.

It was also as a result of trade union action to save peoples lives
that these health and safety regulations came in to place in the first place.

This is an ongoing campaign.

Setting the standards.

We should not be forever going on about it’s a nuisance,
or costs too much money and time to do.

We should not just be complying with the various fire,
or Health & Safety standards.

We should  setting our own much higher standards.

This goes hand in hand with campaigning to improve what are in
the building regulions.

As radicals we should be working to create living spaces which
go way beyond the regulations,
and show just how this can be done.

Meanwhile in Cumbria.

Which brings me on to the very latest job vacancy for the
Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

It’s for a Health and Safety Officer based at Windscale/
Sellafield.

The best line in this ad being:

‘ We help keep the nation safe. You keep our people safe.’

Now how’s that for an interesting way of thinking?