From John Tate

Speer didn’t oppose the use of more powerful weaponry to protect the plants, documents show. His concern was that officers get sufficient training to avoid missed shots and inadvertently creating larger problems, no matter which weapons they carried.

We sometimes joke about the poor marksmanship and spray-and-pray tactics of some police. But such conduct usually only poses a hazard to bystanders, other officers … oh, and sometimes the bad guy. But what if the recipient of these stray rounds was a functional nuclear power plant where release of radioactive materials, or even a core melt down could endanger hundreds of thousands?

That is the focus of the article linked below; it’s thought provoking.
http://www.ocregister.com/taxdollars/nuclear-715262-security-nrc.html

Interestingly enough, the “nationally recognized course” referred to for their qualification is a 100 yard National Match Course (the NRA High Power rule book is explicitly mentioned as a part of their standard qualification) and NRA PPC with B-27 targets for pistol.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part073/part073-appb.html