nuclear-news

Nuclear waste armed guards face cuts under cost-saving plan.

Proposals spark security fear amid warnings over Russia grey war – but nuclear
authorities insist there is no risk. Special trains are used to transport
nuclear material around the UK – with the most dangerous loads escorted by
the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

Armed guards on some of Britain’s nuclear
waste shipments could be removed under new proposals designed to save
millions of pounds. Nuclear waste – from high-grade material such as
enriched uranium to lower-grade items such as clothes and gloves – is
regularly transported around the UK.

It is carried on special trains ,which
use the normal rail network, by road, and on ships which return waste
processed at Sellafield in Cumbria to its country of origin. For example,
in June this year seven flasks – highly resilient large containers – of
nuclear waste were transported by rail from Sellafield to Barrow-in-Furness
in Cumbria, and there loaded onto a specialist ship that sailed to Germany.

The most dangerous material is escorted by armed guards. But now the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is proposing to reduce that number
– sparking fears over security as warnings intensify over Russia’s
grey-war activities. “I think it’s a bad idea, it really is,” said
Matt Okuhara, who served with the CNC from 2006 to 2012.

“The reason
you’ve got to guard this stuff in the first place is because of how
dangerous it is. Anyone who gets hold of this material can use it for
anything they want, they can use it for a dirty bomb, they can use it for a
poisoning device. That’s why you need to have a strong deterrence force
around the material in transit.” Nuclear Transport Solutions says the
proposals would allow it to “reduce cost and complexity of transport
whilst maintaining robust safety and security outcomes and avoiding being
priced out of the market.”

 iNews 2nd Oct 2026 https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/armed-guards-nuclear-waste-cuts-savings-costs-4784722

October 4, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK