About us

The CNC is governed by the CNPA and regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). We are subject to the same College of Policing licensing process as Home Office Police Forces and have been recently inspected by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The CNPA works in partnership with the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security who hold the CNPA to account for delivering an effective and efficient constabulary. The CNC is primarily funded by the Site Licence Companies (SLCs) who operate Great Britain’s civil nuclear sites, with some resourcing derived from the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security.

Our mission is to deter and defend against any attack on the British civil nuclear sector. We deliver best in class protective policing. The CNC, as a counter terrorism (CT) policing organisation, is proud to deploy as a core component of the UK Strategic Armed Policing Reserve (SAPR), to support other police forces as part of the Protect element of the UK Government’s Contest strategy. CNC provides up to 40% of the UK’s total armed policing surge capability.

Our authorised firearms officers (AFOs) are sworn officers of the Crown, and our overarching responsibility is to protect the public. We achieve this through maintaining the security of civil nuclear material at the sites we protect within Great Britain and by delivering our key responsibility for the safe transportation of civil nuclear material, both nationally and internationally.

As a specialised police force with a clearly defined set of competencies and capabilities, the CNC employs over 1,600 officers and staff across our 10 nuclear sites around Great Britain with headquarters in Culham, Oxfordshire and firearms training centres in: Bisley, Surrey; Griffin Park, Cumbria; and Dounreay in Caithness County.