Death of Sebastien Briat
Encyclopedia
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 21 years old at the time. A local Green leader highlighted the wider significance of the incident as an illustration of the protestors' security and safety concerns relating to the transport: "A train could hit something at any moment, and there's nothing that the SNCF
nor the organisations which are meant to provide security can do about it."
According to The New York Times
, Briat was "surprised by the train." The train was carrying 12 containers of waste from German nuclear power plants, which had been reprocessed
in France, and was heading to Gorleben, Germany for storage. Briat was one of at least 4,500 people who attended the protest, which the New York Times said was "prompted by concerns about the safety of the nuclear material."
The train's conductor hit the brakes as soon as he saw Briat, but because of momentum
, was not able to stop the train in time to prevent it from hitting him. Briat's leg was severed by the train. As he did not die immediately, paramedics started to take him to the hospital, but he died before reaching the hospital. Germany has an agreement with France which allows Germany to send its nuclear waste to France for reprocessing, as long as Germany takes it back afterward for storage.
Afterward, it was reported that Briat had violated a number of key safety rules that protesters normally followed. Briat had chained himself shortly after a curve in the track, behind a hill, near a forest, which made it impossible for the conductor to see him in time to stop. In addition, Briat did not wait for the train to stop before chaining himself to the track. Finally, Briat did not have other protesters stationed further down the tracks to alert the conductor with smoke signals. More experienced protesters normally take safety precautions to avoid these mistakes.
After Briat's death, anti-nuclear activists canceled similar protests along the same train route.
Anti-nuclear
The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes the use of nuclear technologies. Many direct action groups, environmental groups, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, national, and international level...
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
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...
. Briat was 21 years old at the time. A local Green leader highlighted the wider significance of the incident as an illustration of the protestors' security and safety concerns relating to the transport: "A train could hit something at any moment, and there's nothing that the SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
nor the organisations which are meant to provide security can do about it."
According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Briat was "surprised by the train." The train was carrying 12 containers of waste from German nuclear power plants, which had been reprocessed
Nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. Reprocessing serves multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing...
in France, and was heading to Gorleben, Germany for storage. Briat was one of at least 4,500 people who attended the protest, which the New York Times said was "prompted by concerns about the safety of the nuclear material."
The train's conductor hit the brakes as soon as he saw Briat, but because of momentum
Momentum
In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...
, was not able to stop the train in time to prevent it from hitting him. Briat's leg was severed by the train. As he did not die immediately, paramedics started to take him to the hospital, but he died before reaching the hospital. Germany has an agreement with France which allows Germany to send its nuclear waste to France for reprocessing, as long as Germany takes it back afterward for storage.
Afterward, it was reported that Briat had violated a number of key safety rules that protesters normally followed. Briat had chained himself shortly after a curve in the track, behind a hill, near a forest, which made it impossible for the conductor to see him in time to stop. In addition, Briat did not wait for the train to stop before chaining himself to the track. Finally, Briat did not have other protesters stationed further down the tracks to alert the conductor with smoke signals. More experienced protesters normally take safety precautions to avoid these mistakes.
After Briat's death, anti-nuclear activists canceled similar protests along the same train route.