GreenWeek6

ISSN 2049-5889 Davey reveals links Energy Secretary declares brother’s close links to fossil fuel sector P5 Green energy centre New £50m renewable technology centre to launch in Glasgow P9 FiT reform round-up Three-page round-up of all the detail and reaction to this week’s FiT changes P13 ClickGreen’s review of all the week’s news, views, research and analysis with a focus on low carbon and sustainability GreenWeek By Stuart Qualtrough DECC quango has spent over £1m on stockpiling weapons, ammunition and vehicles as it guards the nation’s civil nuclear energy sites against attack. The shocking figures were discovered within an annual budget of nearly £80m that is operated by the eight-man Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA). The panel was set up in 2004 to govern the work of the UK’s Nuclear Police Constabulary. Its spending is scrutinised and audited by accountancy firm KPMG. The vast spending bill, which includes £14,000 for bottled water, is underwritten by DECC but paid for by the nuclear energy industry, with the cost in turn recovered through consumers’ bills. Analysis of the accounts shows the water bill is part of a £781,000 spend on ‘subsistence’ – and the overall 25-year cost for providing round-the-clock armed protection is more than double the entire Feed-in Tariff budget. According to the CNPA’s latest set of accounts, the authority this year has an annual budget of £78.5m, which it passes on to the nuclear site police force it independently governs. The Nuclear Constabulary is responsible solely for safeguarding civil nuclear energy locations and material and is not involved in defence-related work. The majority of officers are allowed to carry weapons as Authorised Firearms Officers. £80m bill for crack cop squad to protect 17 nuclear sites around the UK As part of its remit, the agency is required to recover its full operating costs from the licensed operators of the UK’s civil nuclear locations. The audited accounts reveal the costs incurred last year by the police squad include £174,000 for an armoured vehicle, £674,000 for 22 replacement vehicles and £613,000 for a new control room. The DECC-run body says it has “committed additional funds to increasing tactical and marksmanship skills” and its budget reveals around £435,000 was spent last year on weapons, spares and ammunition. Ecotricity founder Dale Vince told GreenWeek: “With plenty of talk recently from the pro-nuclear, anti-renewables lobby, about the hidden costs of green energy, it’s interesting to note that we Britons stump up some £80m a year to ‘protect’ nuclear sites – to the UK’s Nuclear Police Constabulary. Yes, they have their own police force. “That sum is of course dwarfed by the nearly £3bn a year being spent right now on the clean-up of nuclear waste – something set to continue for the next hundred Volume 7: Feb 10, 2012 DECC quango spends £1m on weapons, ammo... and a tank Cost of protecting UK’s civil nuclear sites and materials nearly £80m a year A years or so. Compared to that the costs of green energy support are truly microscopic... and no policemen required, of course.” Jeremy Leggett, chairman of Solarcentury, added: “This is the perfect illustration of the substantial hidden costs of nuclear which collectively drown any current investment in renewables, and will only grow if we are foolish enough to keep flogging the nuclear horse whist holding back renewables.” Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy, said: “The numbers show what a drop in the ocean the cost of supporting renewables is on consumers’ energy bills compared with the hidden costs of other forms of non-renewable energy.” The Oxfordshire-based Nuclear Police force employs 961 officers and staff who operate at 17 locations around the UK, including Sellafield, Dounreay and Sizewell. With site operators and carriers, the Constabulary is responsible for the protection of nuclear facilities, and for the safe and secure movement of nuclear material within the UK and internationally. A spokesman for the CNPA This is the perfect illustration of the substantial hidden costs of nuclear Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Solarcentury explained that, unusually for a UK police force, it has to accommodate and feed its officers as they are usually stationed at remote locations, far from their permanent home. Some armed guards also accompany shipments to and from Japan and voyages have to be stocked with provisions.

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