Swedish Prosecutors Asked To Investigate Alleged Violation Of Safety Standards At Nuclear Plant

     AP     2003/08/19

Swedish nuclear safety inspectors said Tuesday they have asked prosecutors to launch a criminal probe into an alleged violation of safety standards at a nuclear plant in southern Sweden.

The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate said in a statement it "observed large deficiencies in the management" of the 600-megawatt reactor at Barsebaeck during a power stoppage earlier this year. The statement said the managers' actions may have constituted a criminal violation of Sweden's nuclear safety regulations.

The plant was shut down for three weeks starting Jan. 16 because of a problem with the pipes feeding water to the reactor tank. The inspectorate said officials noticed the problem before that date and should have shut down the plant on Jan. 3 at the latest.

The inspectorate said no risk of a nuclear accident was found. However, inspectors criticized the equipment used in the water feeding mechanism.

Spokesman Anders Joerle said it was the first time the inspectorate requested a criminal investigation of a power plant in Sweden. He said plant officials must revise their security procedures before they can restart the reactor, which is currently shut down for annual maintenance.

Officials at the Barsebaeck plant on Tuesday denied any criminal wrongdoing.

Barsebaeck Kraft, the company running the plant, said in a statement that it "does not believe that the handling of this incident violates the Act on Nuclear Activities."

The inspectorate's action Tuesday renewed criticism from nuclear-free Denmark, which has called for the closure of Barsebaeck because of its proximity to the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

"The Swedes have always claimed that Barsebaeck was safe and there were no problems," Copenhagen Lord Mayor Jens Kramer Mikkelsen said in a statement. "Now it appears that there are serious safety problems."

Some 1.8 million people live in Copenhagen, which is about 40 kilometers east of Barsebaeck.

Barsebaeck's other reactor was closed in 1999 after the government decided to phase out nuclear power. The Scandinavian nation of 8.9 million has 11 nuclear reactors.