Explosives found near nuke plant in Sweden

Associated Press

STOCKHOLM

Sweden ramped up security at its three nuclear power plants Thursday after a small amount of explosives without a triggering device was found on a forklift on the grounds of the country’s largest atomic power station, authorities said. Police were investigating possible sabotage, but insisted that even if there had been a blast it would not have posed any great danger.

Bomb-sniffing dogs detected the explosives in a routine check Wednesday afternoon by security staff in the power plant’s industrial area near its high-security enclosure. Police declined to describe the amount or type of explosive.

Bomb technicians said the material lacked a detonating device, meaning there was no danger of an imminent explosion.

“But even if it would have been equipped with a detonator, a potential blast would have had pretty limited effects — the truck would have received some damage, and perhaps some passers-by would have been injured, but it wouldn’t have harmed the plant in any way,” police spokesman Tommy Nyman said.

With police providing little information, a terror expert speculated it might have been an attempt to test the security system of the Ringhals power plant with a later attack in mind.

Four nuclear reactors are at Ringhals, 45 miles south of Sweden’s second-largest city, Goteborg, which has a population of 550,000 people. The plant is controlled by energy companies Vattenfall and E.ON.

Police said the driver of the forklift truck had been unaware of the explosives and was not suspected of being involved. Nyman said authorities had no suspects and were searching the premises to see if there was more suspicious material.

“An outsider has obviously placed them on the truck,” Nyman said. “We’re talking to the truck driver and are trying to map out her movements within the [Ringhals]premises throughout the day.”