Terrorism fears as security breaches among Britain’s ‘nuclear police’ hit eight year high
SECURITY breaches among Britain’s “Nuclear Police” are at an eight- year high, the Sun on Sunday can reveal.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which guards power stations from terrorists, reported 37 cases last year.
These included thefts of uniforms, confidential documents, an officer’s diary and three “classified” Microsoft computer tablets.
There were also 12 instances of personal data being compromised, and a further 19 of staff losing their warrant or ID cards.
The CNC is a unique UK force because all 1,100-plus officers are trained to carry firearms and to shoot to kill.
They protect ten civilian nuclear sites and are also responsible for the security of materials in transport.
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The force said it takes security issues “extremely seriously” and has a “robust process” for reported breaches.
It claimed most security incidents were “low level”, such as “mistyping an email address or sending a document with the wrong security classification”.
All of the stolen items were taken from vehicles.
The tablets included classified information and were encrypted and immediately wiped, it insisted.
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The thefts of the diary and uniform happened in two incidents when thieves accessed unmarked vehicles parked at service stations.
Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament chairwoman Lynn Jamieson said: “Losing data, IDs and uniforms seriously calls into doubt the capacity of this authority to deal with terrorist threats.”