{"id":6810,"date":"2019-11-03T22:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-11-03T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/new-zealand\/?p=6810"},"modified":"2025-06-05T07:34:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:34:22","slug":"cattenom-nine-activists-face-jail-for-sounding-the-alarm-bell-on-nuclear-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/cattenom-nine-activists-face-jail-for-sounding-the-alarm-bell-on-nuclear-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cattenom Nine\u2019: Activists face jail for sounding the alarm bell on nuclear safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early hours of 12 October 2017,\u00a0eight people\u00a0sneaked inside<\/a>\u00a0the grounds of the Cattenom nuclear plant in northern France. Without much difficulty, they reached the foot of a spent fuel pool \u2013 where the still highly radioactive fuel rods are stored after use.<\/p>\n

\"Fireworks<\/p>\n

Greenpeace France activists enter the perimeter of the nuclear power plant in Cattenom, Moselle, and set off a fireworks display, close to the spent fuel storage pool. \u00a9 Vivien Fossez \/ Greenpeace<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It was a scenario Greenpeace France had been warning about since 2001 through numerous reports, letters and speeches. France\u2019s aging fleet of reactors is poorly protected, and not designed to withstand big impacts, such as an explosion set off by terrorists. A loss of water from the spent fuel pools \u2013 protected by walls only 30cm thick \u2013 could lead to a massive release of radioactivity.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the eight intruders turned out to be peaceful activists from Greenpeace France; they set off some fireworks to demonstrate their presence and then allowed themselves to be led away. The ease with which they had penetrated\u00a0alarmed the government<\/a>\u00a0of Luxembourg, which lies just north of Cattenom. It also finally spurred the French authorities into action; a\u00a0parliamentary investigation<\/a>\u00a0into nuclear safety was announced\u00a0the following month.<\/p>\n

\"Fireworks<\/p>\n

Greenpeace France activists enter the perimeter of the nuclear power plant in Cattenom, Moselle, and set off a fireworks display, close to the spent fuel storage pool. \u00a9 Nicolas Chauveau \/ Greenpeace<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a textbook example of the role of non-violent direct action (NVDA) in a democracy, much like the recent climate strikes. When the authorities are sleeping at the wheel, and not responding to polite arguments, citizen action is needed to wake them up. In this case, it did.<\/p>\n

A happy end? Unfortunately not. In a classic case of shooting the messenger, prosecutors have pressed for stiff penalties. In February 2018, a court in Thionville sentenced the \u2018Cattenom nine\u2019 \u2013 the eight activists and a Greenpeace France employee. It imposed a 2-month jail sentence on two of the individuals, and suspended sentences on the rest. It also ordered Greenpeace France to pay \u20ac50,000 to the power company, EDF as \u2018moral damages\u2019.<\/p>\n

Send a message of support for the Cattenom activists now.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Mobilization<\/p>\n

Mobilization of support in Thionville \u00a9Greenpeace<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

These are almost unprecedented sanctions for Greenpeace activists. In 2013, 30 Greenpeace activists spent 2 months in pre-trial detention for a protest against Arctic oil drilling; Russia was later\u00a0ordered to pay compensation by an international tribunal<\/a>\u00a0for detaining them unlawfully. We have to go all the way back to 1987 to find another example that comes close; in that year, Hans Guyt and Willem Beekman\u00a0were\u00a0sentenced<\/a>\u00a0to three months in jail by an English judge, for protesting the discharge of waste from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant into the Irish Sea. They were released after 6.5 weeks, however.<\/p>\n

An Australian court took\u00a0a very different approach<\/a>\u00a0to a very similar action back in 2002. The trespass charges against 46 activists who entered a nuclear facility were dismissed. The judge agreed that protesting outside the front gate wouldn\u2019t have been as effective to demonstrate the inadequate security measures. She added that the \u201cright to protest and the right to express publicly one\u2019s political views, albeit in the form of direct action, is one which is to be valued and protected in the context of a modern democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 30 October, the Court of Appeals in Metz will have a chance to set the record straight and show that France indeed values and protects this right. The \u2018Cattenom 9\u2019 will be presenting their appeal, arguing the action was justified by a \u2018state of necessity\u2019 \u2013 a present or imminent danger threatening lives or livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\n

Il y a 2 ans, nos militant\u00b7es d\u00e9non\u00e7aient les failles de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 de la centrale #nucl\u00e9aire<\/a> de Cattenom lors d'une action non-violente. Leur proc\u00e8s en appel aura lieu \u00e0 Metz le 30 octobre. Ils et elles l'ont fait pour nous : soutenons les #9deCattenom<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/h2fZ6AhNMc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qyTrvABMJn<\/a><\/p>\n

— Greenpeace France (@greenpeacefr) October 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n