Greenpeace Blocks Uranium Ship at French Port of Dunkirk

Greenpeace campaigners stopped a cargo vessel transporting uranium at the French port of Dunkirk on the morning of March 2, alleging that French energy company EDF continues to maintain commercial links with Russia.

Approximately 20 activists prevented the Panama-flagged general cargo ship Mikhail Dudin from operating while it was in port.

French outlet France24 reported that in 2018, prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EDF entered into a €600 million agreement with Tenex, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom.

Under that deal, France ships reprocessed uranium, which is nuclear waste generated by its power plants, to Russia. At Rosatom’s specialized facility in Seversk, Siberia, the material is converted and re-enriched so it can be reused in French nuclear reactors.

Greenpeace argues that the continuation of this arrangement effectively provides indirect support to Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

French authorities intervened at the scene and detained four Greenpeace activists. The obstruction was subsequently cleared, allowing port operations to resume.