Activist break-in prompts ministry crisis meet
Two Greenpeace activists remain inside a nuclear power plant in Forsmark after a break-in on Tuesday, with Environmental Minister Lena Ek spending Wednesday in a crisis meeting to deal with what she referred to as a "serious" situation.
The break-in prompted a full day's meeting between Ek, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and representatives from energy providers Vattenfall and Eon.
However, Ek was unable to come to any conclusions as to how the activists managed to remain hidden for more than 30 hours since Tuesday.
“We've had a good discussion, but not everything has been explained yet. Therefore we will have another meeting in about a month’s time,” Ek said during a press conference following the meeting.
Ek said that she was concerned with what had happened and that the further into restricted areas the activists managed to penetrate, the more serious a security breach it was.
She stressed, however, that the activists had only managed to get into the outer security zones so far.
“But nevertheless – it is serious,” she said.
At the press conference it was also confirmed that one man has been detained after being arrested around midday on Wednesday near Ringhals nuclear plant.
“He was arrested at noon outside of Ringhals. We think there is a connection between him and a car we found nearby. Now we are investigating his connection to the activists found inside the security zone,” said Ingemar Nilja of the local police to news agency TT earlier on Wednesday.
The detention order was issued by a prosecutor around 4pm on Wednesday. The four activists that were arrested on Wednesday morning after spending the night at the plant have been released.
The fact that the activists have managed to breach the security zones makes it necessary to question how good the security is in the outer security zones, said Ek at the press conference:
“There are still many questions that need answering,” she said.
TT/The Local/rm
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The break-in prompted a full day's meeting between Ek, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, and representatives from energy providers Vattenfall and Eon.
However, Ek was unable to come to any conclusions as to how the activists managed to remain hidden for more than 30 hours since Tuesday.
“We've had a good discussion, but not everything has been explained yet. Therefore we will have another meeting in about a month’s time,” Ek said during a press conference following the meeting.
Ek said that she was concerned with what had happened and that the further into restricted areas the activists managed to penetrate, the more serious a security breach it was.
She stressed, however, that the activists had only managed to get into the outer security zones so far.
“But nevertheless – it is serious,” she said.
At the press conference it was also confirmed that one man has been detained after being arrested around midday on Wednesday near Ringhals nuclear plant.
“He was arrested at noon outside of Ringhals. We think there is a connection between him and a car we found nearby. Now we are investigating his connection to the activists found inside the security zone,” said Ingemar Nilja of the local police to news agency TT earlier on Wednesday.
The detention order was issued by a prosecutor around 4pm on Wednesday. The four activists that were arrested on Wednesday morning after spending the night at the plant have been released.
The fact that the activists have managed to breach the security zones makes it necessary to question how good the security is in the outer security zones, said Ek at the press conference:
“There are still many questions that need answering,” she said.
TT/The Local/rm
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