PARIS, July 15 (Xinhua) --
French President Francois Hollande on
Monday said that security of the
country's nuclear plants was
"absolutely respected" after a group
of Greenpeace activists infiltrated into
a nuclear power site in southern
France.
"France is strongly
committed to nuclear security and
authority of nuclear safety is
ensuring that...," Hollande
said.
"It also offered all
the guarantees to make sure that
nuclear security is absolutely respected,"
he told a joint press conference
with visiting UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon in Paris.
Earlier in
the day, a group of Greepeace
activists broke into an EDF nuclear
power plant in Tricastin in southern
France demanding the French government
shut down the site, citing safety
concerns.
The activists hung
banners on the wall above the
picture of French President Hollande
in the plant, reading "Tricastin: a
nuclear accident" and questioning "President
of the catastrophe?"
The
Interior Ministry said 29 activists were
arrested and placed in
custody.
They risked one-year
imprisonment and a payment of 15,000
euros in fine, according to local
media reports.
France operates 58
reactors and has been a leading
international proponent of nuclear energy.
However, closing nuclear plants has
been a controversial issue in the
country as France is the most
nuclear-energy relying country in the
world, with 75 percent of its power
coming from nuclear
sources.
During his election
campaign, President Hollande had pledged
to cut the share of nuclear
energy in France's electricity
production to 50 percent by 2025, promising
to close the country's oldest
plant at Fessenheim by 2017.
