"A project to build a facility to store highly radioactive nuclear waste in the French countryside drew a protest by hundreds of people on Saturday, with police firing tear gas to break up rowdy demonstrators. The project, known as CIGEO, is meant to build an underground storage centre outside the northeastern village of Bure to bury the most dangerous waste from nuclear power plants and hold it for hundreds of thousands of years."
""Get out, ANDRA!" protesters chanted under heavy police presence, marching behind a banner that read "Protest for the Future". Town officials said another 200 people had joined another, unauthorised protest nearby, many wearing masks and throwing projectiles at law enforcement. Officers fired tear gas to break up the group, with police helicopters circling overhead. The national gendarmerie said "weapons and dangerous materials" had been found during searches."
Crowds gathered near Bure to protest the CIGEO plan to build an underground storage centre for highly radioactive nuclear waste. Organisers said ~2,000 protested; authorities estimated 700, and town officials said 200 joined an unauthorised nearby protest. Protesters chanted against ANDRA and marched behind a "Protest for the Future" banner; some masked participants reportedly threw projectiles. Police used tear gas and helicopters; searches found "weapons and dangerous materials," the national gendarmerie said. CIGEO, launched in 1991, is due to begin construction in 2027–2028; France's 18 nuclear plants supply about three-fifths of its electricity, making waste management sensitive.
Read at The Local France
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