Greenpeace activists break into nuclear plant near Paris

At dawn, nine activists bypassed security at the Nogent-sur-Seine plant, 95 kilometres southeast of Paris, and unfurled a banner on one of its domes reading ‘Safe Nuclear Power Doesn't Exist’.

The group said the aim of the raid was to demonstrate how easy it is to get to the centre of a reactor.

"In about 15 minutes the activists reached the heart of the plant, where the nuclear core and nuclear fuel are," said Sophia Majnoni, a Greenpeace nuclear expert.

"We at the moment have people who are in a nuclear site and have not been located," added Greenpeace spokeswoman Adelaide Colin.

French authorities confirmed the intrusion, the arrest of the nine activists and said a thorough search was being conducted of all installations.

French energy firm EDF, which runs the nuclear plants, tried to downplay the incident, insisting it had been aware of the intrusion from the start.

French nuclear power plants map Click to enlarge the map

Authorities admitted attempts had also been made to break into nuclear power plants in Blayais in southwestern France and Chinon in central France, as well as a nuclear research centre in Cadarache in the southeast.

The intrustion comes as some in France have begun to question the country's long-held support for nuclear energy.

France, the world's most nuclear-dependent country, operates 58 reactors and has been a leading international proponent of atomic energy.

But the country's reliance on nuclear power has been increasingly called into question since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which prompted Germany to announce plans to shut all of its reactors by the end of 2022.

Ahead of a presidential election next year, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has agreed a deal with the country's Greens to push to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy to 50 percent by shutting down 24 nuclear reactors by 2025.
campaigns in France.