The Arctic as a resource base
What’s wrong with Russia’s official documents on the Arctic.
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Publish date: May 22, 2008
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The two Swedish contractors were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of plotting sabotage after one of them was stopped while carrying a plastic bag with traces of a highly explosive substance on it.
At the time, authorities said the second man was detained because ownership of the bag was uncertain. Both were held in custody overnight
Police spokesman Kenth Andersson said Thursday that there was no explaination as to why the bag would contain explosive residue, but there was not enough evidence to hold the contract employees for sabotage. Andersson says both men were released Thursday.
Police did not release the suspects’ identities, saying only that one was born in 1955 and the other in 1962 and both were Swedish citizens.
Another police spokesman Sven-Erik Karlsson said the older suspect was known to police from prior investigations, but would not say what the previous investigations were about.
Police raided their homes late Wednesday, but did not find anything suspicious, Karlsson said.
Prosecutor Gunilla Ohlin said there was no reason to continuing holding the men, but hinted the investigation agaist them will continue.
"There was no reason to keep them under arrest anymore, but suspicions against them remain, he said.
This would suggest authorities do not have strong evidence that the men were planning to attack the Oskarshamn nuclear plant, about 250 kilometres south of Stockholm.
What’s wrong with Russia’s official documents on the Arctic.
As uranium supplies from Russia fall under the shadow of potential sanctions, and while Ukraine’s allies look to wean themselves off nuclear fuel produced by Moscow’s Rosatom corporation, owners of left-for-dead mines in the US are looking to revive their deposits.
The European Union doubled its purchases of Russian nuclear fuel in 2023, data from Eurostat and the UN’s international trade service Comtrade show.
The output of Russian nuclear power plants in 2023 decreased by 2.8% compared to 2022. A decrease in output occurred for the first time in 10 years a...