Stockholm - A Swedish nuclear reactor that was shut down as a precautionary measure after an explosives scare can be restarted since police did not find anything suspicious during a search, the operator said Friday. Reactor number one was searched Thursday by police and sniffer dogs and was due to be restarted Saturday.
Two men arrested Wednesday on suspicion of planning sabotage at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant were released Thursday, but the prosecutor said suspicions remained pending results of tests to be conducted on a bag carried by one of the men.
A so-called smear test triggered an alert for an explosive at a spot security check.
Experts quoted in Swedish media said the sniffing equipment was as sensitive as a dog's nose and could have triggered a false alarm.
"Now I am branded as a terrorist for the rest of my life," Marino Bozic, 53, was quoted as telling the Expressen newspaper.
Bozic and his 44-year-old colleague were suspended from work at the plant until further notice, the operator said.
Bozic and his colleague were hired by a sub-contractor conducting routine maintenance work on one of the plant's three reactors that was offline.
A search of their rooms near the plant and their homes in the Swedish city of Norrkoping has not resulted in any further finds.
Croatian-born Bozic said he began to work at the plant on May 12 and carried his colleague's plastic bag containing shaving cream and cologne when he was stopped at the spot check.
Police said Thursday Bozic had been convicted of several minor crimes including possession of drugs and assault, and Bozic told Expressen he had tried to clean up his life in recent years.
The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) has questioned how Bozic was given clearance, saying employees at nuclear plants are required not to have a criminal record.
The plant in south-eastern Sweden, operated by the energy groups E.ON of Germany and Finland's Fortum, produces about 10 per cent of Sweden's electricity.
