Sweden seals off nuclear plant after finding explosive traces

Authorities sealed off a nuclear plant in Sweden after a welder arrived for work with a plastic bag containing traces of an explosive substance, police and plant officials said.

Investigators were questioning the man, who was scheduled to work at the Oskarshamn plant today, police spokesman Sven-Erik Karlsson said.

A bomb squad was dispatched to the scene.

Operator OKG downplayed the incident, saying there was no threat to the safety of the plant, located about 150 miles south of Stockholm.

Police said the man was carrying a plastic bag with an unknown amount of a substance believed to be triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive used in the London bombings in 2005.

However, plant spokesman Anders Osterberg said only traces of the substance were found on the bag’s handle, suggesting it may have rubbed off from the man’s hands.

“The bag contained toiletries, but a test found traces of the substance on the bag’s handle,” Mr Osterberg said.

He stressed there was no threat to the plant, but added that the incident was being taken seriously.

“It’s not something you use at home,” he said. “We’re not dealing with toys here.”

Karlsson said police set up a security perimeter with a 1,000-foot radius around the plant, but workers already inside were not evacuated. The plant was continuing to operate normally.

Mr Karlsson declined to give details on the apprehended welder, and could not say if he was suspected of a crime.

TATP is highly explosive, and a tiny amount would be enough to blow off a person’s hand, said Svante Karlsson, a weapons expert at the Swedish Defence Research Agency.

“It is very unstable, very sensitive to both friction and shocks,” he said, adding the substance has no civilian use.

The Oskarshamn plant has three nuclear reactors, which account for about 10% of electricity produced in Sweden. Operator OKG is jointly owned by E.ON of Germany and Finland’s Fortum.