Anti-nuclear protesters target presidential election in France

Greenpeace is using the presidential election in France to call on the two main candidates to recognise the risk of a nuclear disaster and close some “dangerous” power stations.

Demonstrators from the environmental organisation gathered near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, many wearing masks of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and his main challenger Francois Hollande and covering the eyes, ears or mouth.

“They see nothing, they hear nothing, so we’ve decided to talk about it. What we want is for these two candidates to accept that a nuclear accident is possible in France. They need to take necessary measures of immediately closing the most dangerous power stations and move away from nuclear power,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Karine Gavand.

France is the world’s most nuclear-dependent country and is also a major exporter of nuclear power. Most of its electricity is supplied by 58 nuclear reactors all over France.

The disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant last March has galvanised anti-nuclear protesters.

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