PARIS (Reuters) – Greenpeace France said the fact it has been given documents detailing the security systems of the EPR nuclear reactor under construction in Flamanville, France raises concerns about the protection of confidential information at nuclear utility EDF and its subcontractors.
Greenpeace said in a statement on Monday it had access to several thousand pages of detailed plans of the Flamanville site, the location of security cameras and descriptions of electronic surveillance systems.
It said it had been given the documents, without asking for them, from a person who had no professional links with the nuclear industry.
“The way we have received these documents proves that detailed information about a nuclear site circulates among the public,” Greenpeace chief Jean-Franois Julliard said. “In different circumstances, they could have been sold or given to a violent group … which raises the possibility of intrusion, sabotage or theft of radioactive materials.”
EDF said in a statement it did not know which documents Greenpeace had been given and could not comment on how confidential they are. It added that the plan of the area and the location of security cameras is not classified information as the cameras are visible to any visitor of the site.
It said that EDF staff and contractors only have access to classified information to the extent that this is required for their job.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq and Jean-Stphane Brosse; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
