Radioactive cesium has leaked into the Baltic Sea from storage tanks at a nuclear power plant in central Sweden, but poses no risk to the public or the environment, the state nuclear authority said Wednesday.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Radioactive cesium has leaked into the Baltic Sea from storage tanks at a nuclear power plant in central Sweden, but poses no risk to the public or the environment, the state nuclear authority said Wednesday.
Even though cesium levels in the water are 10 times higher than normal, they are still well below what's allowed under Swedish law, the Swedish State Radiation Protection Institute said.
It was not clear exactly how much radioactive waste water had leaked from the tanks at the Forsmark nuclear plant, 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of Stockholm.
"We believe that storage tanks containing low- and medium-level radioactive waste have corroded and leaked into the drainage system, from where the water continues out into the Baltic Sea," institute spokeswoman Anki Hagg said.
She said the institute had asked the plant management to take measures to stop further leaks.
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Forsmark accounts for roughly one-sixth of Sweden's electricity production. The first of its three reactors was started in 1980.
Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors providing 50 percent of its electricity, but the government plans to phase them out over the coming decades.
Source: Associated Press
