Activists break into Swedish nuclear plants

Activists from environmental rights group Greenpeace managed to break into restricted areas of nuclear power plants Forsmark on the east coast of Sweden and Ringhals in the south.

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“The fact that we got this far shows a completely insufficient security,” said Annika Jacobsson, head of Greenpeace Sweden, to news agency TT.

Greenpeace calls the action a “peaceful stress-test” to draw attention to the lack of security at the plants.

Local police on Tuesday morning confirmed the activists’ security breach:

“They are in a prohibited area and they will be removed,” said Stefan Dalhhielm of the local Halland police to TT on Tuesday morning.

At Forsmark, officials also confirmed the presence of the activists:

“Yes, they are here. I guess they have climbed the fence again,” said Forsmark spokesperson Claes-Inge Andersson to TT.

According to Uppsala police, nine activists managed to breach the first barrier and climbed up some light posts. However, according to Greenpeace, some 50 activists made it into restricted areas of the plant.

At Sweden’s more southern plant, Ringhals, some 20 activists have managed to get in on bicycles.

“As soon as they cycled into the restricted area, they committed a crime,“ Dahlhielm told TT.

It is still unclear how the bicycle-riding activists managed to get through the gate, which is manned by security guards.

According to local police, 43 activists had been arrested at Forsmark by 11am and 16 at Ringhals.

What Greenpeace wanted to draw attention to through the action, is that security is lacking especially when it comes to “external threats or threats from the air”.

“What the EU hasn’t tested for is whether unauthorized people could get into the plants. What we have done today is show that security is alarmingly lax, when 70 activists could get into restricted areas of the plants using ladders,” Jacobsson said to TT.

Activists have previously managed to get into restricted areas, but spokespeople from the plants have said that they have never got close to the reactors.

However, Greenpeace argues that unauthorized people shouldn’t be able to gain entry at all and that the security situation is grave enough to warrant an immediate closure of both Swedish plants.

“They are a serious threat to the population’s health and safety. It is both what we saw today – that unauthorized can gain entry – but also the results from previous stress-tests,” said Jacobsson to TT.

TT/The Local/rm
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