Police spokesperson Christer Nordstrom says the activists are suspected of trespassing and breaking safety regulations after entering the nuclear power station Forsmark
– Edited by April Murelio –
According to reports by AFP and the Canadian Press, Police say they arrested around 50 activists after they entered a power plant in central Sweden as part of a Greenpeace protest against the use of nuclear energy.
Police spokesperson Christer Nordstrom says the activists are suspected of trespassing and breaking safety regulations after entering the nuclear power station Forsmark.
"The activists demand that Swedish members of parliament vote 'no' to new nuclear power at a vote on June 17 and instead bet on renewable energy," the group said.
Nuclear power supplies about 50 percent of Sweden's electricity production. The country has 10 reactors at three power stations. Sweden announced last year it had reversed its decision to phase out nuclear power, and the parliament is set to vote Thursday on whether to expand the Scandinavian country's nuclear facilities.
The government has proposed to allow current plants to be replaced by new ones. Sweden's parliament will vote on the proposal Thursday.
Greenpeace spokesman Ludvig Tillman told the TT news agency several activists had been stopped by guards, but that "many succeeded in getting in".
The activists, reportedly climbed over a fence to get in. Police spokesman Nordstroem said many police were on site.
Forsmark spokesman Claes-Inge Andersson said that plant authorities closely followed the protest, but said there was little worry the activists would pose a security risk.
"It is one thing to manage to climb over a fence, but it should not be possible for them to reach the vital parts" of the nuclear power plant, he said, adding that the activists "are not here to damage the plant. They just want to protest a parliamentary decision."