Anti-nuclear protester run over by train - VoIP / PBX Info Forum for Avaya / Nortel, Cisco, ShoreTel, Panasonic and other manufactuers Tech Tips Community

slagburn · November 7th, 2004

Quote:

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) - An anti-nuclear protester died in northeastern France after being run over by a train carrying nuclear waste from France to Germany, regional authorities said.

The 21-year-old man, who had chained himself to the railway near the city of Nancy, lost a leg after he was crushed by the train and died despite receiving emergency treatment at the scene.

The authorities said the accident happened in the early afternoon in the town of Avricourt after a group of eight people gathered near the main Paris to Strasbourg line, on which the nuclear transport train was travelling.

"After coming out of a corner at reduced speed, the train was apparently confronted with the group, which moved out of the way with the exception of one person, who was hit," a police statement said.

"Despite the arrival of the emergency services at the scene, the young man died of his injuries," the statement said.

The police did not reveal the man's identity, but said he was aged 21, was "probably" from the Meuse region in eastern France and was part of a group of activists.

Nancy state prosecutor Michel Senthille said that one of the man's legs had been cut off in the incident, contradicting an earlier statement by the regional authorities who had said that both the man's legs had been sectioned.

Earlier the train, which was carrying treated nuclear waste from the French plant at La Hague to Gorleben in northern Germany, was delayed for two hours near Nancy as police removed two protestors who had also chained themselves to the railway lines.

Senthille said that the man who died was not thought to have had links with this group.

The train, which left the retreatment plant at La Hague on Saturday evening, crossed on to German soil at 8:35 pm (1935GMT) Sunday, almost exactly 24 hours later.

It carries 12 containers of spent fuel and is the seventh such consignment to be sent back to Germany since 1996.

A member of protest group Nuclear Out, Gilbert Poirot, said about a dozen protesters had been involved, all of them French nationals.

"It appears that the demonstrators had not put in place safety measures destined to warn the convoy of their presence," he said.

The German Greens Party, which forms part of the German governing coalition, said it was stunned by the death of the demonstrator.

"We deeply regret this tragic death," a spokesman said, adding that he expected a thorough investigation be carried out into the incident.

It called on demonstrators not to risk their lives, an appeal echoed by another anti-nuclear group.

At Hitzacker, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Gorleben, several hundred people gathered with candles and lanterns in a spontaneous tribute to the dead man.

A spokesman from French nuclear energy firm COGEMA, which manages La Hague nuclear plant said the incident was "a tragedy" and that officials organising the convoy had been "extremely shocked".

On Saturday thousands of anti-nuclear protestors had gathered in northern Germany to protest at the imminent arrival of the shipment.

After demonstrating in Danneberg market square on Saturday, protestors gathered at the railway station and also temporarily blocked the tracks to be used by the train.

From Dannenberg the consignment will be taken by road to Gorleben.

Anti-nuclear and environmental campaigners say the shipments are dangerous and that the waste will contaminate the water table at Gorleben.

Germany, which has no treatment facilities of its own, sends spent fuel rods for reprocessing at the La Hague plant before they are returned here for storage.

So lets see... that's two darwin award candidates in less than a week, too bad they moved the other protesters off the tracks.

***John_In_Dakota*** · November 8th, 2004

Oh the irony of it all.
Oh the quirk of fate.
Poor lad.
Good thing he was not trying to steal electricity from the train.
He may have been struck by lighting then run over by the train.

slagburn · November 8th, 2004

Anyone know just exactly how the anti-nukies propose that we generate power?

I'm not aware of any other technoloies that can produce as much power with as little byproduct and enviromental impact as nuclear power.

November 9th, 2004

yeh its a fact.. we have a nuc power plant in cape town.. and they always protesting about it.. yet it makes so much power for us.. and its in the middle of nowhere and bugger all anyway.. :P

November 9th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by slagburn

Anyone know just exactly how the anti-nukies propose that we generate power?

<RANT>
I'm not aware of any other technoloies that can produce as much power with as little byproduct and enviromental impact as nuclear power.

But the average person does not know what you are talking about. This site has been operating since 1967. There are 8 reactors and they have the capacity to power roughly one third of the province (basically all of New York City and suburbs). In the time they have operated (34 years) they have produced a total of about one municple swimming pool full of waste (about 4 feet by 100 feet by 50 feet) and that is still encased in the bulky fuel cells and inefficiently stacked. Reality is that this could all be storeded in a volume less than a typical single-family modern home. Compare that to the volume of CO2 and other pollution created by all the others methods and it is ridiculous. And CANDU fuel can quite easily be vitrified (encased in "glass") and stored in a stable means that won't leak for longer than the pyramids have been around.

It is by no means the perfect way to create energy but it is extremely efficient and has the lowest impact on the environment even if you factor in "accidents" like Chernobyl.

</RANT>

SD

paul144 · November 9th, 2004

I have to say that I just do not understand some of the environmentalists.
Here in Maine, a guy is trying to build a couple of large wind farms out in an isolated area. He owns the land, has access to the power grid, has all of the state and federal permits. It was held up in court because some nut-jobs filed a law suit contending that the windmills might kill migrating birds. The guy was forced to perorm a large scale study of the numbers and varieties of birds that migrate through the area and the potential number that could be expected to be killed.
Now, don't get me wrong, I believe that endangered species need to be protected. But this was going just a little too far as there was no evidence that any endangered birds actually went anywhere near the area.
Two years (since he had all of the requisite permits and God knows how many dollars later) the guy is finally moving ahead with the project.
I wonder if anyone has performed any analysis of the number of birds harmed by acid rain and pollution generated by coal-fired power plants?
How about how many birds will die as a result of global warming caused by the CO2 emissions from those same plants?

Rachelle · November 9th, 2004

But it is accidents like Chernobyl that folks remember. That was a terrible and still a terrible mess. They still are having water, vegitation, livestock, and biological evidence of that accident. No one wants that to even be possible again.

FEAR is the driving force for the protests. If the fear could be overcome then the protests would have to move on to other topics.

Not being a nuclear physisist I would not know the half-life of the waste. I would not know the ramifications of a leak. I would not know much. So fear rules in most minds.

rlc

slagburn · November 9th, 2004

Chernobyl is a study in design flaws, safety violations and communication break down... at least from what I've read.

November 10th, 2004

there was actually a program on National Geographic on it on friday nights Called seconds from disaster.. and slag is correct.. it was found to be a breakdown in communicatoion at a critical point.. and inexperiance by the nightshift on duty...

the guy controlloing the reactors removed the rods which control the temp.. and needed the water to cool it.. the guy controlling the water saw to much water and stopped the water.. hence blowing it all up...

Pirates_Ghost · November 10th, 2004

Anyone else see the flaw in French EMTs? I mean COME ON now..first Princess Di and now this kid? Who dies of a leg wound these days?

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