Greenpeace activist paraglides into French reactor

LYON, France, May 2 (UPI) -- A Greenpeace activist flew a paraglider over a French nuclear reactor Wednesday, dropping a smoke canister, in an attempt to show the site's vulnerability.

The man flew over the Bugey nuclear power plant near Lyon in his yellow-winged motorized aircraft and dropped the canister, spewing red smoke, onto the roof of one of the compound's four reactors, and then landed within the grounds, where he was met by security guards, the French newspaper The Local reported Wednesday.

"We did this to demonstrate how vulnerable French nuclear stations are to air attacks, which no one has really considered," Greenpeace France nuclear specialist Yannick Rousselet told the newspaper Le Parisien, adding "We want politicians to take into account this vulnerability and realize the enormous risk nuclear power poses in France."

"An airplane could crash, or there could be a terrorist attack," Greenpeace France nuclear expert Sophia Majnoni told the iTele news channel.