Swedish nuclear plant posted cleaners as guards

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - Sweden's nuclear watchdog has criticized the managers of an atomic power plant for posting cleaners and janitors to guard the facility when alarm system sensors were out of order.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority says the incident at the Oskarshamn plant was serious and the workers had no training as security guards.

Plant spokesman Anders Osterberg says 20-25 cleaning and maintenance staff were deployed for a week around the plant's perimeter this month in areas where a new alarm system's motion sensors had malfunctioned.

The Oskarshamn plant, 210 miles (340 kilometers) south of Stockholm, has three reactors and provides around 10 percent of Sweden's electricity.