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UK increases funding to protect nuclear sites: Report

An artist’s impression of Hinkley Point C. (EDF Energy/PA photo)

The UK government is allocating additional funding to protect the country’s nuclear power plants against potential terror attacks, according to a report.

The money being spent on the armed police force tasked to protect 14 nuclear power stations in Britain has almost tripled since the July 7, 2005 bombings in London which killed 52 people and injured over 700, The Independent reported.

The funding going to the nuclear authority has increased by 55 percent since 2010.

The government increased the budget of the force, which consists of more than “1,000 highly trained” officers, at a time when other forces have experienced drastic cuts.

The specialist service, which also guards the transportation of nuclear matter that could potentially be weaponized, saw a six-percent rise in its funding in the last year alone.

The force includes firearms experts, dog handlers, marine and road escort teams and is administered by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA).

“There was a capability and capacity uplift in response to security assessments undertaken by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Site Licence Companies who operate civil nuclear sites and other government agencies, as well as a government reassessment of risk and postulated threats to civil nuclear sites,” read a statement from the CNPA.

The official terror threat level for the UK’s power plants is currently at “severe,” which means such an attack is highly likely. However, officials insist that the steady increase in funding is not in response to a specific threat.

British Energy's Heysham nuclear power station in northern England is pictured in this April 14, 2008 file photo. (Reuters)

Earlier this year, the ONR, which holds sway over nuclear security, warned of the increasing threat of attacks on British operational reactors.

“The threat of terrorism in the nuclear sector will continue to be managed proportionately and effectively through national and international capabilities,” according to a document from the ONR.

It also transpired that the terror cells behind the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels were also planning a strike on a nuclear power station in the UK.

Meanwhile, the UK government is considering signing a deal with China to construct a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.

Prime Minister Theresa May has paused the project with her senior adviser Nick Timothy warning that China would take advantage of the deal.

China “could use their role to build weaknesses into computer systems which will allow them to shut down Britain’s energy production at will,” Timothy warned.

UK ministers are expected, in the early fall, to announce their decisions over whether to push ahead with the project.

May’s predecessor David Cameron initiated the £18 billion project by French energy company EDF with financial backing from China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) as a sign of Britain’s openness to foreign investment.

French President Francois Hollande (L) stands as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May signs a register after their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 21, 2016. (Reuters)

The two companies behind the initiative were shocked when the British government refused to give final approval for the nuclear reactor hours before a signing ceremony was due to take place on July 29.

Britain’s former business secretary Vince Cable said that, as home secretary, May was unhappy about Cameron’s approach to Chinese investment in Britain and had clashed with Cabinet over the Hinkley Point project.


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