Spent nuclear fuel, contracts worth billions, nuclear proliferation, Greenpeace protests, radioactive material to guard – UK the nuclear power industry has plenty of sensitive security issues, as the latest report by a regulator shows.
On vetting, the OCNS last year did 17,149 security vetting clearances, 3500 of those revalidations. The report praised โanother very strong performance duringโ by vetters. The regulator reminded the nuclear industry of obligations under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; in other words, as contract guarding companies well know, it is for an employer to check โright to workโ. It led to government embarrassment last year when an eventual 7700 Security Industry Authority licence holders had their badges revoked. The report makes plain: โOCNS will not issue clearances unless evidence has been provided of an individual โs right to work in the UK.โ
Vetting
The report hails collaboration with the Defence Vetting Agency (DVA), โwhich has delivered significant improvement in the vetting service provided to the civil nuclear industry … OCNS has also reviewed its support packages to include greater clarity with regard to foreign travel for example, or action to take if an individual โs personal circumstances alter. OCNS has encouraged industry vetting staffs to attend pre-employment screening training delivered by CPNI.โ The regualtor expects nuclear firms to do a pre-employment check of an individualโs unspent criminal record: โI shall expect civil nuclear companies to incorporate Baseline Screening checks into their normal recruiting procedures before new employees are given access to civil nuclear premises.โ
Staffing
The Office for Civil Nuclear Security report is upbeat on staffing. The OCNS has come under the Health and Safety Executive (HHSE) since April 2007, and has merged with the Nuclear Directorate. This led to admin (and vetting) job cuts; OCNS expects to have 35 staff in October, compared with 42 before that merger. However Roger Brunt, OCNS director, says: โHSE has authorised the recruitment of individual security inspectors to fill two existing vacancies within OCNS and they have also approved the recruitment of five further security inspectors.โ One inspector for instance is permanently based at the Sellafield licensed nuclear site. The extra recruits among other things are to handle the work to do with the proposed new generation of nuclear power plants. OCNS has begun what it calls โpreliminary work on the technical security requirements to underpin the constructionโ. The reason: not just to avoid โcostly retro-fitting of security measures at an advanced stage of constructionโ, but to ensure that the safety and security are recognised in the design process. Hence the regualtor is in talks with the United States and France about the security measures at nuclear power stations that may be similarly built here. โOCNS is in regular dialogue with Dutch, German, US and French security authorities in relation to preventing the proliferation of uranium enrichment technology.โ
Safety
The report adds: โWe are now looking to develop operational integration between safety and security across all licensed nuclear sites. The first step will be the establishment of an OCNS Northern Office at ND HSEโs offices at Bootle from September 2008.โ The regulator previously only had offices at Harwell near Oxford.
Plan
The 24-page document lays out the four aspects of security as understood by the regulator: site, transport, information (for instance the secure handling of classified contracts, anti-hacking, even โsecurity furnitureโ that keeps sensitive info) and personnel. Nuclear power stations and related sites such as stores of nuclear material must have a Site Security Plan (SSSP). Bedsides, Security Improvements Schedules supplement SSPs, and detail โroutine security improvementsโ that the regulator expects. The OCNS did have one laptop reported to it as stolen โbut it had been encrypted and the information it contained, even if it could be accessed, would be of little consequenceโ.
Confident
Brunt writes: โI am confident that as a result of OCNS โ routine and no-notice inspections and the operatorsโ own clear commitment to security, these plans remain current and comprehensive, and that there are effective security regimes in place across the civil nuclear industry.โ Briefly, OCNS regulates 47 places: 32 civil licensed nuclear sites, 14 tenants on six of those 32 licensed sites, and one other nuclear premises. One example of the regualtory regime: one report concerned โa short-term loss of power to lighting and CCTV at an approved carrierโs compoundโ. In the year 2007-8 reported, the OCNS did 135 routine site inspections and a further 32 no-notice inspections.
