nuclear waste in Bure: the anti-nuclear attack the wall of Andra – Europe1

Several hundred demonstrators opposed to the future of radioactive waste disposal facility in Bure (Meuse) killed Sunday sections of the site protective wall, in a control object timber for several weeks.

from 200 to 450 protesters. arrived to the edge of the wood Lejuc, armed with sticks, hoes or other, they shot part of the concrete wall built by the national agency nuclear waste management (Andra), which conducts exploratory work there. This wall, top of about two meters, concrete, designed to prevent opponents of the project, installed close to degrade the site stopped for two weeks. Around 11 am, shouting “Andra liberates, resistance and sabotage” the demonstrators opposed to landfill projects of nuclear waste by the national radioactive waste management agency – 450 according to organizers, 200 to 300 according to the prefecture – s ‘gathered outside the town hall of Mandres-en-Barrois.

A site chosen in the 1990s. the procession consisting of historical activists, young people from different movements and general secretary of Europe Ecology Greens Cormant David was then initiated to the wood of Mandres-en-Barrois. It is in this timber, owned by Andra, that are conducted exploratory work for the creation of the landfill of nuclear waste on the territory on the borders of the Meuse and Haute-Marne. The site was chosen in the 1990s to become a landfill of the most radioactive nuclear waste – about 4% of the waste produced in France. They will, if the project is carried futures, buried 490 meters underground.

Removing the police. For weeks, opponents are fighting against this work and the wall enclosure erected around. Justice has also given their due on 1 August by declaring the illegal clearing, and asking Andra to put the timber in 6 months – except to obtain authorization, which will be difficult in the time . Under the sun, opponents were pleased to see no policeman in sight. Posted around the wood they had dislodged protesters after three weeks of occupation in mid-July, the gendarmes withdrew Saturday.

The tagged Hall. The prefecture justified this tactical choice by the desire not to face the danger risk of seeing some protesters clash violently with police, “there is no question of putting lives at risk,” said Corinne Simon, general secretary of the prefecture of the Meuse. “Symbolically, break down the wall that’s always something strong. For many people, this wall is even more scandalous that clearing,” said one of the protesters who chose the pseudonym “John”. The door of the Town Hall of Mandres, the mayor exchanged wood Lejuc with Andra, was daubed with black paint, and broken glass doors.