France hit by anti-nuclear protests

Thousands of people filled the streets of five French cities today to protest plans to build the next generation of nuclear reactors – fuel-efficient but seen by anti-nuclear activists as a relaunching of France’s nuclear energy programme.

Organisers put the number of protesters in the western city of Rennes at 30,000 to 40,000 – a figure that could not be officially confirmed. The collective Get out of Nuclear put the number in Lyon and Toulouse at 10,000 and claimed another 5,000 protesters in Lille, in the north, as well as in the eastern city of Strasbourg.