Anti-nuclear movement in France
Encyclopedia
In the 1970s, an anti-nuclear movement in France, consisting of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. Between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power
in ten demonstrations.
In January 2004, up to 15,000 anti-nuclear protesters marched in Paris against a new generation of nuclear reactors, the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR). On March 17 2007, simultaneous protests, organised by Sortir du nucléaire
, were staged in 5 French towns to protest construction of EPR plants.
After Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, thousands staged anti-nuclear protests
around France, demanding reactors be closed. Protesters' demands were focused on getting France to shut its oldest nuclear power station at Fessenheim. Many people also protested at the Cattenom nuclear plant, France's second most powerful.
In November 2011, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters delayed a train carrying radioactive waste from France to Germany. Many clashes and obstructions made the journey the slowest one since the annual shipments of radioactive waste began in 1995.
Also in November 2011, a French court fined nuclear power giant Électricité de France
€1.5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on Greenpeace
, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems. Greenpeace was awarded €500,000 in damages.
In France, opposition to nuclear weapons has been somewhat muted since they are perceived as a national symbol and as securing French independence. The strongest anti-nuclear opposition has emerged over nuclear power "as a reaction to the centralising traditions of the French state and the technocratic trends of modern society".
France began a nuclear power
program in the 1950s and announced a shift to the Westinghouse light water reactor in 1969. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the government announced a dramatic increase in planned nuclear capacity. These major decisions were put forward as a fait accompli, with no opportunity for meaningful parliamentary debate. An intense extra-parliamentary opposition, of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. In the 1970s, there were many large and dramatic anti-nuclear protests and demonstrations in France.
In 1971, 15,000 people demonstrated against French plans to locate the first light -water reactor power plant in Bugey. This was the first of
a series of mass protests organized at nearly every planned nuclear site
until the massive demonstration at the Superphénix
breeder reactor in
Creys-Malvillein in 1977 culminated in violence. Between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power in ten demonstrations.
Following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
, radiation levels were much higher than originally thought, and some farmers in the eastern part of France had to plow under tainted lettuce and cabbage crops. French authorities at the time of the Chernobyl disaster were "criticised for a lack of transparency, with many interpreting officials' declarations as saying that radioactive pollution had not crossed the border from Germany into France".
, was run over by a train carrying radioactive waste
.
In 2005, thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators marched to commemorate the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
and demand an end to government plans to build a nuclear plant in western France.
On March 17 2007, simultaneous protests, organised by Sortir du nucléaire
(Get Out of Nuclear Power), were staged in 5 French towns to protest construction of EPR
plants; Rennes
, Lyon
, Toulouse
, Lille
, and Strasbourg
.
On April 26, 2007 (the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
) around 30 protesters blocked entrances and chained themselves to cranes at the EPR site in Flamanville
, some remaining on the site for 24 hours. A truck was also parked in front of the entrance to block its access.
In 2008, twenty Greenpeace
activists delayed construction of a new nuclear reactor being built in Flamanville
for 50 hours. In July 2008 there were a series of accidents at the French nuclear site Tricastin-Pierrelatte
, and Greenpeace France launched two court cases in an effort to find out more details about these. In August 2008, Sortir du nucléaire called Areva
's radioactive emissions 'very dangerous' and sought an official safety inspection of its factories.
on March 20. Most of the protests, however, are focused on the closure of the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant
, where some 3,800 French and Germans demonstrated on April 8, and where a larger demonstration is expected on April 25.
Thousands staged anti-nuclear protests around France, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, demanding reactors be closed. Protesters' demands were focused on getting France to shut its oldest nuclear power station at Fessenheim, which lies in a densely-populated part of France, less than two kilometres from Germany and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Switzerland.
Around 2,000 people also protested at the Cattenom nuclear plant, France's second most powerful, in the Mosel region to the northwest of Strasbourg. Protesters in southwestern France staged another demonstration in the form of a mass picnic in front of the Blayais nuclear reactor, also in memory of Chernobyl. In France's northwestern region of Brittany, around 800 people staged a good-humoured march in front of the Brennilis experimental heavy-water atomic plant that was built in the 1960s. It was taken offline in 1985 but its dismantling is still not completed after 25 years.
Three months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, thousands of anti-nuclear campaigners protested in Paris.
On June 26, 2011, around 5,000 protesters gathered near Fessenheim nuclear power plant, demanding the plant be shut down immediately. Demonstrators from France and Germany came to Fessenheim and formed a human chain along the road. Protesters claim that the plant is vulnerable to flooding and earthquakes. Fessenheim has become a flashpoint in renewed debate over nuclear safety in France after the Fukushima accident. The plant is operated by French power group EDF.
In November 2011, a French court fined nuclear power giant Électricité de France
€1.5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on anti-nuclear group Greenpeace
, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems. Greenpeace was awarded €500,000 in damages. Although EDF claimed that a security firm had only been employed to monitor Greenpeace, the court disagreed, jailing the head and deputy head of EDF's nuclear security operation for three years each.
In November 2011, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters delayed a train carrying radioactive waste from France to Germany. Many clashes and obstructions made the journey the slowest one since the annual shipments of radioactive waste began in 1995. The shipment, the first since Japan's Fukishima nuclear disaster, faced large protests in France where activists damaged the train tracks. Thousands of people in Germany also interrupted the train's journey, forcing it to proceed at a snail's pace, covering 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) in 109 hours. More than 200 people were reported injured in the protests and several arrests were made.
In Aquitaine
, the local group TchernoBlaye continue to protest against the continued operation of the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant
.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
in ten demonstrations.
In January 2004, up to 15,000 anti-nuclear protesters marched in Paris against a new generation of nuclear reactors, the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR). On March 17 2007, simultaneous protests, organised by Sortir du nucléaire
Sortir du nucléaire (France)
Sortir du nucléaire is a French federation of about 800 anti-nuclear groups.Founded in 1997 as a result of the success of the struggle against the Superphénix, the organisation regularly campaigns against the use of nuclear power in France and in the world.In September 2007, Sortir du nucléaire...
, were staged in 5 French towns to protest construction of EPR plants.
After Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, thousands staged anti-nuclear protests
Anti-nuclear protests
Anti-nuclear protests first emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the United Kingdom, the first Aldermaston March, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, took place in 1958. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace...
around France, demanding reactors be closed. Protesters' demands were focused on getting France to shut its oldest nuclear power station at Fessenheim. Many people also protested at the Cattenom nuclear plant, France's second most powerful.
In November 2011, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters delayed a train carrying radioactive waste from France to Germany. Many clashes and obstructions made the journey the slowest one since the annual shipments of radioactive waste began in 1995.
Also in November 2011, a French court fined nuclear power giant Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
€1.5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems. Greenpeace was awarded €500,000 in damages.
History
France began a nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
program in the 1950s and announced a shift to the Westinghouse light water reactor in 1969. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the government announced a dramatic increase in planned nuclear capacity. These major decisions were put forward as a fait accompli, with no opportunity for meaningful parliamentary debate. An intense extra-parliamentary opposition, of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. In the 1970s, there were many large and dramatic anti-nuclear protests and demonstrations in France.
In 1971, 15,000 people demonstrated against French plans to locate the first light -water reactor power plant in Bugey. This was the first of
a series of mass protests organized at nearly every planned nuclear site
until the massive demonstration at the Superphénix
Superphénix
Superphénix or SPX was a nuclear power station on the Rhône River at Creys-Malville in France, close to the border with Switzerland. A fast breeder reactor, it halted electricity production in 1996 and was closed as a commercial plant in 1997....
breeder reactor in
Creys-Malvillein in 1977 culminated in violence. Between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power in ten demonstrations.
Following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, radiation levels were much higher than originally thought, and some farmers in the eastern part of France had to plow under tainted lettuce and cabbage crops. French authorities at the time of the Chernobyl disaster were "criticised for a lack of transparency, with many interpreting officials' declarations as saying that radioactive pollution had not crossed the border from Germany into France".
2000s
In January 2004, up to 15,000 anti-nuclear protesters marched in Paris against a new generation of nuclear reactors, the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR). Also in 2004, an anti-nuclear protester, Sebastien BriatDeath of Sebastien Briat
Sébastien Briat was an anti-nuclear activist from Meuse, France who gained international media attention in 2004 when he was struck and killed by a train carrying nuclear waste near Avricourt, France, after chaining himself to the tracks while participating in a protest against nuclear power. Briat...
, was run over by a train carrying radioactive waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
.
In 2005, thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators marched to commemorate the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
and demand an end to government plans to build a nuclear plant in western France.
On March 17 2007, simultaneous protests, organised by Sortir du nucléaire
Sortir du nucléaire (France)
Sortir du nucléaire is a French federation of about 800 anti-nuclear groups.Founded in 1997 as a result of the success of the struggle against the Superphénix, the organisation regularly campaigns against the use of nuclear power in France and in the world.In September 2007, Sortir du nucléaire...
(Get Out of Nuclear Power), were staged in 5 French towns to protest construction of EPR
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
plants; Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
.
On April 26, 2007 (the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
) around 30 protesters blocked entrances and chained themselves to cranes at the EPR site in Flamanville
Flamanville, Manche
Flamanville is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France.- Port :The port of Flamanville, in the northern part of the commune, is known as Diélette...
, some remaining on the site for 24 hours. A truck was also parked in front of the entrance to block its access.
In 2008, twenty Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
activists delayed construction of a new nuclear reactor being built in Flamanville
Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant
The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche, France on the Cotentin Peninsula.It houses two pressurized water reactors that produce 1300 MWe each and came into service in 1986 and 1987, respectively. It produced 18.9 TWh in 2005, which amounted to 4% of the electricity...
for 50 hours. In July 2008 there were a series of accidents at the French nuclear site Tricastin-Pierrelatte
Tricastin Nuclear Power Center
The Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant is a collection of sites run by Areva and EDF located in 4 different communes Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Pierrelatte in Drôme, Bollène and Lapalud in Vaucluse, and four departments on right bank of the Channel of Donzère-Mondragon between Valence The Tricastin...
, and Greenpeace France launched two court cases in an effort to find out more details about these. In August 2008, Sortir du nucléaire called Areva
Areva
AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...
's radioactive emissions 'very dangerous' and sought an official safety inspection of its factories.
Post-Fukushima
Following the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, around 1,000 people took part in a protest against nuclear power in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on March 20. Most of the protests, however, are focused on the closure of the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant
Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant
The Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Fessenheim commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France, north east of the Mulhouse urban area, within of the border with Germany, and approximately from Switzerland...
, where some 3,800 French and Germans demonstrated on April 8, and where a larger demonstration is expected on April 25.
Thousands staged anti-nuclear protests around France, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, demanding reactors be closed. Protesters' demands were focused on getting France to shut its oldest nuclear power station at Fessenheim, which lies in a densely-populated part of France, less than two kilometres from Germany and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Switzerland.
Around 2,000 people also protested at the Cattenom nuclear plant, France's second most powerful, in the Mosel region to the northwest of Strasbourg. Protesters in southwestern France staged another demonstration in the form of a mass picnic in front of the Blayais nuclear reactor, also in memory of Chernobyl. In France's northwestern region of Brittany, around 800 people staged a good-humoured march in front of the Brennilis experimental heavy-water atomic plant that was built in the 1960s. It was taken offline in 1985 but its dismantling is still not completed after 25 years.
Three months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, thousands of anti-nuclear campaigners protested in Paris.
On June 26, 2011, around 5,000 protesters gathered near Fessenheim nuclear power plant, demanding the plant be shut down immediately. Demonstrators from France and Germany came to Fessenheim and formed a human chain along the road. Protesters claim that the plant is vulnerable to flooding and earthquakes. Fessenheim has become a flashpoint in renewed debate over nuclear safety in France after the Fukushima accident. The plant is operated by French power group EDF.
In November 2011, a French court fined nuclear power giant Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
€1.5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on anti-nuclear group Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems. Greenpeace was awarded €500,000 in damages. Although EDF claimed that a security firm had only been employed to monitor Greenpeace, the court disagreed, jailing the head and deputy head of EDF's nuclear security operation for three years each.
In November 2011, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters delayed a train carrying radioactive waste from France to Germany. Many clashes and obstructions made the journey the slowest one since the annual shipments of radioactive waste began in 1995. The shipment, the first since Japan's Fukishima nuclear disaster, faced large protests in France where activists damaged the train tracks. Thousands of people in Germany also interrupted the train's journey, forcing it to proceed at a snail's pace, covering 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) in 109 hours. More than 200 people were reported injured in the protests and several arrests were made.
In Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, the local group TchernoBlaye continue to protest against the continued operation of the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant
Blayais Nuclear Power Plant
The Blayais Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear plant on the banks of the Gironde estuary near Blaye, South Western France operated by Électricité de France.-Description:...
.
See also
- Dominique VoynetDominique VoynetDominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
- France and weapons of mass destructionFrance and weapons of mass destructionFrance is known to have an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently...
- Nuclear power in FranceNuclear power in FranceNuclear power is the primary source of electric power in France. In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh of electricity was from nuclear power , the highest percentage in the world....
- Stéphane LhommeStéphane LhommeStéphane Lhomme is president of Tchernoblaye association, and was speaker of "Sortir du nucléaire" Network during 2002-2010....
- Mycle SchneiderMycle SchneiderMycle Schneider is a nuclear energy consultant based in Paris, and lead author of The World Nuclear Industry Status Reports...
- André LarivièreAndré LarivièreAndré Larivière is an ecologist and anti-nuclear activist from Quebec, Canada. He has lived in Europe since 1986 and was a leading speaker for the French Sortir du nucléaire network...
- Solange FernexSolange FernexSolange Fernex was a French pacifist activist and politician, born on 15 April 1934 at Strasbourg, France, and died from cancer on 11 September 2006, at Biederthal, France.She led Europe-Ecologie list for the first European elections in 1979...
- Jean-Luc BennahmiasJean-Luc BennahmiasJean-Luc Bennahmias is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the south-east of France. He is a member of the Democratic Movement , and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.He is also a substitute for the Committee on Culture and...
- List of anti-nuclear power groups
- List of books about nuclear issues
- List of Chernobyl-related articles
- List of nuclear whistleblowers
- List of Nuclear-Free Future Award recipients
- Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
- Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaireGroupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaireThe Groupement de scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire GSIEN is a multidisciplinary not-for-profit association of independent scientists who aim to spread information about the nuclear industry in France founded on December 15, 1975.In addition to providing a structure within...
(Association of Scientists for Information on Nuclear Energy)
Further reading
- Touraine, Alain, Zsuzska Hegedus, Francois Dubet, and Michael Wieviorka (1982). Anti-nuclear protest: The Opposition to Nuclear Energy in France, Cambridge University Press.