The UK has instructed the police service that specifically protects nuclear facilities to increase its presence and visibility throughout the UK, as the Government aims to safeguard important energy projects due to an uptick in climate demonstrations.
The Energy Secretary has urged the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), an armed police force, to broaden its authority beyond nuclear facilities to protect extensive gas terminals, according to several UK media reports.
This directive comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions and a surge in climate protests across the UK, with organisations such as Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace increasingly focusing on fossil fuel plants.
Just Stop Oil wants the UK to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and has stated it will use “non-violent civil resistance” to achieve its ultimate aim of ending fossil-fuel production.
In 2022, Just Stop Oil demonstrators successfully obstructed ten oil terminals throughout the UK, aiming to disrupt the country’s fossil fuel industry.
While the Ministry of Defence currently oversees security at oil and gas sites, the CNC, with approximately 1,600 employees, will assume these responsibilities starting in April.
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Greenpeace has also engaged in direct action against the oil industry.
Last year, the organisation boarded a Shell oil production vessel en route to the UK and took control of it for 13 days, redirecting it to Norway and away from its intended drilling location in the North Sea.
The government’s primary focus will be on protecting coastal gas facilities in the UK, with job postings indicating that the CNC is looking for new officers at the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire and Easington in Hull.
Job openings are also available for the Bacton terminal in Norfolk, which handles gas from the North Sea and supplies a large portion of London and the south-east.
The CNC has confirmed the transition but stated that this change is not in response to any newly identified threat.
“The Civil Nuclear Constabulary will commence responsibility for providing continued armed police protection at specific energy infrastructure from 1 April 2025, having been given consent to do so by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero,” the government said in a statement.
