Armed police have conducted their first-ever training exercise simulating an attempt to attack and steal radioactive material being transported from the Dounreay nuclear power plant in Scotland. The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) scenario involved armed attackers deliberately crashing a vehicle to halt a lorry en route to Georgemas Junction, a railway station approximately six miles from the facility on the north Caithness coast. According to BBC News, the exercise also included the simulated arrest of a Dounreay employee suspected of involvement in the attack.
The CNC collaborated with Police Scotland and other emergency services during the training held in late 2025. A separate workshop brought together police, Highland Council, Dounreay management, and the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, a military facility adjacent to Dounreay used for testing prototype nuclear reactors for submarines. Ambulance and fire crews participated in the full-scale exercise, which required months of advance planning.
In operational circumstances, Georgemas Junction serves as the departure point for transporting radioactive material from Dounreay to Sellafield in Cumbria for reprocessing or storage. A previous programme transferred 11 tonnes of Dounreay nuclear material to Sellafield in 32 shipments, beginning in December 2012 and concluding in 2015.
What made this exercise significant?
This represented a scenario that had never been tested before, presenting substantial challenges to all participants. The exercise was described by the CNC as its most ambitious Regulatory Evaluation Demonstration Exercise. Steve Warren, exercise and resilience manager, stated:
This was a scenario that had not been exercised or tested before, meaning we were asking a lot of everyone involved.
How did personnel perform?
Officers responded to the simulated threat within minutes, successfully neutralising the scenario. Chief Inspector Dave McIntosh of Dounreay's operational policing unit praised the team's response, saying:
I'm very proud of them, they did a really, really good job.He noted that the training had placed personnel in
really challenging circumstances. The exercise also tested post-incident support mechanisms for officers involved in such operations.
What is Dounreay's current status?
Dounreay was constructed as an experimental nuclear reactor site during the 1950s and is currently undergoing a prolonged decommissioning process. The facility's transition from active operation to decommissioning has necessitated enhanced security protocols for the transport of remaining radioactive materials.
What was the official assessment?
The Office for Nuclear Regulation awarded the exercise an
adequaterating, confirming that security and emergency response procedures met regulatory standards. This evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of current protocols for protecting nuclear material in transit and the readiness of emergency services to respond to potential threats.
