The Swedish nuclear power plants – Ringhals on the west coast and Forsmark on the east – were targeted Tuesday by Greenpeace activists, about 70 of whom broke into restricted areas to demonstrate an alleged lack of effective security, according to an article from Dow Jones Newswires.
The campaign was continued on Wednesday as several activists were founding hiding inside the plants, more than 24 hours after the initial breach. Greenpeace claims there are still more people to be found at the sites, the article says.
Swedish Environment Minister Lena Ek says Wednesday that it is clear that the external security at the plants did not work as intended.
“I think it raises a number of questions which needs thorough analysis before we decide what action needs to be taken,” Ms. Ek said shortly after a meeting with the Swedish nuclear energy regulator and the owners of the two Swedish nuclear plants – utility companies Vattenfall and E.ON, as quoted in the Dow Jones article.
The power plants, which are majority-owned by state-owned Swedish company Vattenfall Group, produce about 36 percent of Sweden’s energy. Vattenfall said in a statement Tuesday that the activists only reached an area with a lower safety classification and that “the security worked exactly as intended.” The police had, at that point, arrested 43 activists at Forsmark, and another 16 at Ringhals, the article says.
Hours later, however, police made a more thorough search of the Forsmark plant, finding a few more activists found hiding in the so-called operating area, right next to the nuclear reactors. On Wednesday, Vattenfall reports finding another six activists inside the plant, Dow Jones reports.