Greenpeace activists piloted a drone into the no-fly zone of the EDF-operated Bugey Nuclear Power Plant and crashed it against the heavily-reactive wall of its spent-fuel building on Tuesday to prove its vulnerability to foreign attacks.
ADVERTISEMENTGreenpeace activists piloted a drone into the no-fly zone of the EDF-operated Bugey Nuclear Power Plant and crashed it against the heavily-reactive wall of its spent-fuel building on Tuesday to prove its vulnerability to foreign attacks.
Greenpeace posted the video on their Facebook page, pointing out that at no point during the operation was the drone intercepted by authorities. This action demonstrates “the extreme vulnerability of French nuclear structures," designed in the 70s and not equipped for external attacks.
According to the World Nuclear Association, France generates 75% of its electricity from nuclear plants.
EDF said that two drones had flown over the site, one of which was intercepted.
“The presence of these drones had no impact on the security of the installations,” EDF told Reuters.
EDF said it will be filing a police complaint against Greenpeace.
The French parliament has been investigating nuclear security breaches for months following a Greenpeace report from October of 2017 that detailed the vulnerability of EDF’s nuclear reactors.
Greenpeace activists had previously broken through two security barriers and launched fireworks over EDF’s Cattenom plant.