Sebastien Briat was an anti-nuclear activist from Meuse, France who gained international media attention in 2004 when he was struck and killed by a train carrying nuclear waste near Avricourt, France, after chaining himself to the tracks while participating in a protest against nuclear power. Briat was 21 years old at the time.
According to The New York Times, Briat was "surprised by the train." The train was carrying 12 containers of waste from German nuclear power plants, which had been reprocessed in France, and was heading to Gorleben, Germany for storage. Briat was one of at least 4,500 people who attended the protest, which the New York Times said was "prompted by concerns about the safety of the nuclear material." [1]
The train's conductor hit the brakes as soon as he saw Briat, but because of momentum, was not able to stop the train in time to prevent it from hitting him. Briat's leg was severed by the train. As he did not die immediately, paramedics started to take him to the hospital, but he died before reaching the hospital. Germany has an agreement with France which allows Germany to send its nuclear waste to France for reprocessing, as long as Germany takes it back afterward for storage. [2]
Afterward, it was reported that Briat had violated a number of key safety rules that protesters normally followed. Briat had chained himself shortly after a curve in the track, behind a hill, near a forest, which made it impossible for the conductor to see him in time to stop. In addition, Briat did not wait for the train to stop before chaining himself to the track. Finally, Briat did not have other protesters stationed further down the tracks to alert the conductor with smoke signals. More experienced protesters normally take safety precautions to avoid these mistakes. Despite the fact that Briat violated these safety precautions, and despite the fact that his death had nothing to do with radiation contamination, anti-nuclear activists still cited his death as an example of the alleged dangers of nuclear power. [3]
After Briat's death, anti-nuclear activists canceled similar protests along the same train route. [4]
  | Fatality fuels anti-nuclear protest - Fatality fuels anti-nuclear protest | World news | guardian.co.uk |
| | Protester Chains Self to Track, Hit by Train - FOXNews.com - Protester Chains Self to Track, Hit by Train - U.S. & World |
| | Train Kills French Nuclear Protester - Train Kills French Nuclear Protester - New York Times |
| | Protester dies under atomic train - BBC NEWS | Europe | Protester dies under atomic train |
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