protests as french nuclear convoy heads for germany
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Protests as French nuclear convoy heads for Germany

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Protests as French nuclear convoy heads for Germany

Flottemanville - AFP

Baton-wielding French police battled anti-nuclear protesters Wednesday as the last train carrying German nuclear waste treated in France set off on its journey home. A mobile police canteen was set on fire by demonstrators and at least three people were hurt, two protesters and a riot officer. Spooked by Japan's Fukushima disaster, Germany has decided to phase out its use of nuclear power, and thus bring to an end the controversial practice of sending radioactive waste overland to France for reprocessing. Anti-nuclear activists want France to follow suit and shut its reactors, an idea firmly dismissed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, and fierce protests were expected along the 700-kilometre (435-mile) route to Germany. The shipment left a railway yard in the town of Valognes in Normandy, northwest France, more than an hour late after police played cat and mouse with hundreds of activists, firing teargas and making at least 16 arrests. Protesters removed a rail and destroy electric junction boxes before the train left, environmental group Greenpeace and rail operator SNCF said. "These are more like troublemaking vandals than the usual anti-nuclear protesters," said prosecutor Eric Bouillard, noting that protesters had been found with two machetes in their possession. As dense fog rolled in off the English Channel, mingling with the gas, police set up roadblocks to prevent demonstrators converging on nuclear giant Areva's yard. A helicopter flew overhead and riot vans lined the roads. Cows scattered in the fields as police charged groups of stone-throwing protesters, and a few kilometres outside Valognes a group briefly blocked a section of track with rocks and metal debris. Protesters intimidated journalists and smashed at least two press cameras. Greenpeace, which did not call for the train to be stopped, condemned "all forms of violence." The local governor's office accused the demonstrators of throwing petrol bombs. Protest organisers insisted police had provoked the clashes. "Beyond the danger that this waste poses, we're demonstrating our radical opposition to a means of production that means we'll always need more power. We're against endless growth," said 24-year-old Anna, from Paris. There has long been widespread public opposition in Germany to nuclear power, which environmentalists believe presents an unacceptable radioactive threat to public health and the environment. In March, the Japanese nuclear plant at Fukushima Daiichi was hit by an earthquake and a tsunami, triggering a meltdown and massive radiation leak -- and increasing worldwide concerns over nuclear power. Chancellor Angela Merkel's German government buckled under political pressure and agreed to halt its reactors by 2022, forcing energy suppliers to close profitable plants and levying a tax on the reactors' fuel. In the meantime, Germany will no longer send nuclear waste for reprocessing in France, but will instead stockpile it until a way is found to make it safe. Fukushima also increased concerns in France, where Sarkozy's government has vowed to stand by the industry, despite attacks by Greens. France produces 75 percent of its electricity needs in nuclear plants -- a higher proportion than any other country in the world -- and its electricity bills are around 25 percent cheaper than in its neighbours, a boon to industry. According to pressure group Greenpeace, the shipment of 11 containers holds the same quantity of "highly radioactive" waste as the last one to leave the French reprocessing plant at La Hague for the German site at Gorleben. Last November the train took 91 hours to arrive at its final destination -- an entire day longer than planned -- as it was dogged the length of the route by French and then German protesters.  Around 50,000 activists turned out in Germany to try to disrupt the train during that shipment, and organisers expect around 20,000 to demonstrate against the convoy this week. Protesters are angry that Merkel's announced nuclear phase-out will take another decade, and that there is still no permanent storage site for the waste generated in the country's reactors. The Gorleben facility, on the former border between East and West Germany, is only a temporary dump and Germany's powerful state governments have mobilised to fight a relocation to their regions.

almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

protests as french nuclear convoy heads for germany protests as french nuclear convoy heads for germany

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

protests as french nuclear convoy heads for germany protests as french nuclear convoy heads for germany

 



Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 09:22 2018 Monday ,22 January

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 11:03 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Modern colorful bedroom renovation

GMT 10:57 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Modern colorful bedroom renovation
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president

GMT 13:56 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 10:47 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 09:47 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

To 'eternal style' of late Alaia

GMT 17:12 2012 Wednesday ,16 May

LG unveils new user interface for ICS devices

GMT 15:03 2013 Thursday ,25 July

Belgium under heat wave

GMT 04:59 2015 Tuesday ,01 September

Qatar coral reef at risk from warming seas

GMT 21:51 2016 Friday ,14 October

3 frontier corps personnel killed in Quetta

GMT 14:42 2012 Saturday ,21 January

Bella Cruise debuts new main squeeze

GMT 13:52 2013 Tuesday ,26 March

Indian director talks about Himmatwala remake

GMT 22:26 2017 Sunday ,08 January

1 Turkish soldier, 37 Daesh militants killed

GMT 02:35 2014 Sunday ,29 June

Hilton Jaipur unveils new main restaurant

GMT 20:51 2015 Saturday ,10 January

Twofour54 will train Saudi journalists

GMT 21:47 2015 Tuesday ,20 January

Kuwait shuts newspaper critical of government

GMT 09:38 2013 Tuesday ,31 December

SRA discovers new plant species in UAE
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
 
 Almaghrib Today Facebook,almaghrib today facebook  Almaghrib Today Twitter,almaghrib today twitter Almaghrib Today Rss,almaghrib today rss  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

.almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday almaghribtoday almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday