Greenpeace Activists Evade Security at Nuclear Swedish Power Plants

Exposing the vulnerability of Swedish nuclear power plants, at least seven Greenpeace activists stayed more than 24 hours undetected at two sites following a test of their security procedures.

More than 70 Greenpeace activists entered the Ringhals and Forsmark nuclear power plants on Tuesday to hold peaceful stress test of the sites and to demand that minister Lena Ek, responsible for nuclear security, order the closure of the risky reactors.

Many of the activists were arrested on Tuesday, but four activists at Ringhals and three at Forsmark managed to evade detection overnight, despite Vattenfall claiming on Tuesday that "security worked exactly as intended".

At 0800 CET on Wednesday, Greenpeace Sweden energy campaigner Isadora Wronski revealed that she was still on the roof at Ringhals, 28 hours after she and three other activists entered the Ringhals site. They have since been detained.

"This stress test has again proven how unsafe the Swedish nuclear power plants are. They pose a serious risk to the public, not only those living in their vicinity but across the entire Nordic region," Wronski said before she left the Ringhals power plant.

"I strongly urge the Swedish environmental minister Lena Ek to ensure that these dangerous reactors are taken out of service."

At Forsmark, three activists evaded arrest overnight and one of the three is still inside the Forsmark perimeter as the stress test continues.

The European Commission published last week its assessment of stress tests carried out by European nuclear plant operators and regulators following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Those tests revealed Europe's nuclear plants have serious safety problems.

Ringhals, in particular, was sharply criticised for its poor safety and a report, from independent nuclear expert Oda Becker reviewing the stress tests conducted in Sweden, concluded that the Swedish power plants should be shutdown due to safety problems.

Environment minister Ek has now called a meeting with plant operators Vattenfall and E.oN for later on Tuesday, where they will be asked to explain the security breaches.

"Ek must take this opportunity to order the closure of reactors, since the operators clearly do not fulfill safety and security requirements," said Martina Krueger, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Nordic.