Nuclear Shorts
Spring Quarterly 2018
Hundreds of French police were used in a surprise sunrise action to evict about 15 protesters living in tree houses in the forest of Lejuc near the village of Bure in Eastern France, a site that’s been targeted as a sacrifice zone for deep burial of radioactive waste. Two bulldozers and about 500 police in body armor also removed about 30 people occupying a nearby residence they’d dubbed the “House of Resistance,” arresting several. Although exploratory drilling has so far been prevented by protests, the area has been targeted for a 1,600-foot-deep dig-out to hide high-level waste fuel rods produced by France’s 58 nuclear reactors. The dumpsite location has not yet gotten final government approval. One protester, speaking on the phone before police moved against him, told Agence France Presse, “We are here because we don’t want the Earth to be poisoned. We are on this old oak tree which has lived far longer than us.”
—London Telegraph, AFP, and French RFI Radio, Feb. 22, 2018
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