The French Resistance at Bure: the campaign to oppose a nuclear waste dump.

Richard Outram, NFLA Secretary, 6 January 2026

Introduction.
The outline for this briefing was first written almost two years ago for British and Canadian campaigners working collaboratively in opposing plans to establish high level radioactive waste repositories in their respective nations, either an off-shore and undersea Geological Disposal Facility (UK) or an inshore and underground Deep Geological Repository (Canada).

It was intended to raise their awareness of the decades long struggle waged by colleagues against the similar Cigéo Project under development in France.

Contrary to the positive articles published by Nuclear Waste
Services Community Partnerships and puff pieces that have appeared in the pro-nuclear Cumbrian media all is not ‘sweetness and light’, for there have been public protests involving local people and environmental activists against this project for decades.

Protests have often been opposed by police using tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators. Authorities maintain a heavy police presence in the area, and multiple injuries have been reported on both sides during serious confrontations. The French state has also resorted to spying and the wholesome clearance and destruction of protestors’ camps.

This then is a background paper to the campaign in opposition to the Cigéo Project, and the tactics employed by the French State and Police in opposing them…………………………

Lengthy detailed history. with excellent photos and graphics.

Conclusion.
With sections of the media reporting that the British Government is looking to abandon the ‘consent based’ approach, and with the former Nuclear Minister suggesting that such a move is inevitable, there must be concerns that a nuclear waste dump might eventually be imposed on a wholly unwilling community in the UK.

Such an announcement would most likely lead to more robust public opposition. Could this lead in turn to the UK Government looking to resort to the heavy-handed policing seen at Bure?
Although UK police services have historically operated based on consent, this is perhaps less fanciful than it might appear. Ministerial approval has already been given to deploy armed officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary at national energy infrastructure sites outside of nuclear power stations and Ministers announced as part of the 2025 Defence Review that an armed auxiliary civilian guard force would be created for a similar purpose.
If the UK Government does move away from a ‘consent-based approach’ to GDF siting, Bure may provide a salutary lesson for an unwilling, and disenfranchised, community in the UK faced with the prospect of a highlevel nuclear waste facility being imposed by the British State.
Forewarned is forearmed. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/A446NB332-The-French-Resistance-at-Bure-the-campaign-to-oppose-a-nuclear-waste-dump-Jan-2026.pdf