Nuclear security guards ("turvahenkilö") have a special status defined in the Nuclear Energy Act (1987), different from that of regular private security guards or regular police. They are empowered as "personnel temporarily assisting the police", and as such, have the same right to use force as the police, provided that the police is immediately informed of an incident. In practice, nuclear security guards are equipped with firearms such as shotguns and submachine guns, which is not generally permitted for private security guards. Nuclear security guards are employed either by a security company or the power company itself.