Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 10, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 1, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAt the opening of France’s global nuclear summit in Boulogne‑Billancourt on March 10, 2026, two sharply dressed Greenpeace activists interrupted President Macron and IAEA head Rafael Grossi with banners condemning uranium imports from Russia, while other protesters blocked convoys outside.
By Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - Two Greenpeace activists broke onto the stage at the start of a global nuclear summit in France on Tuesday, interrupting President Emmanuel Macron and U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi as they were greeting heads of state.
The protesters, dressed sharply in black suits and ties, held banners bearing the Greenpeace logo and reading "Nuclear Power = Energy Insecurity" and "Nuclear power fuels Russia’s war".
One of them shouted at Macron, "Why are we still buying uranium from Russia?" to which the president replied, "We produce nuclear power ourselves."
France has its own uranium enrichment capacity, but also imports enriched uranium for its power plants, including from Russia, according to the latest customs data published by the French government.
Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom accounted for about 44% of the global uranium enrichment capacity in 2025, according to the World Nuclear Association, and European nuclear power producers have struggled to wean themselves off these supplies four years after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Around 15 Greenpeace activists blocked arriving convoys outside the venue in Boulogne-Billancourt on the outskirts of Paris on Tuesday, the environmental campaigning group said in a statement.
France is hosting the second world nuclear energy summit on Tuesday, where world leaders will meet to discuss and promote nuclear power.
"For Greenpeace France, the holding of such a summit is an anachronism, an event completely out of touch with reality and with the lessons to be learned from the tragic situations of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the strikes on Iran, and the impacts of the worsening climate disruption," the group said.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro in Paris, Inti Landauro in Brussels; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
Greenpeace activists stormed the stage and confronted President Macron during the opening of the summit, interrupting the proceedings.
Greenpeace activists highlighted nuclear power's risks, its link to energy insecurity, and ongoing uranium purchases from Russia.
France has its own uranium enrichment capacity but also imports enriched uranium, including from Russia.
Russia's Rosatom accounted for about 44% of global uranium enrichment capacity in 2025, impacting Europe's nuclear energy sector.
Greenpeace called the summit an anachronism, claiming it ignores lessons from recent geopolitical crises and climate change impacts.
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