An epidemic of mysterious -- and potentially disturbing -- drone flights over French nuclear power stations remains unexplained despite the recent arrests of three young model aircraft enthusiasts in central France.
The illegal flights by the tiny, pilotless helicopters, mostly at night, were initially dismissed as a nuisance. But a recent spate of five co-ordinated "visits" in one evening to nuclear reactors hundreds of miles apart has now placed the French government on high alert.
A campaign of harassment by anti-nuclear campaigners is considered the most likely explanation. Surveillance flights by a terrorist group testing the security of France's 19 nuclear sites have not been ruled out. Then, last Wednesday, three people, two men aged 24 and 31 and a woman of 21, were arrested close to a power station at Belleville-sur-Loire in Cher. Police said the three were about to launch a relatively simple drone -- a type sold on the internet for around €100 (£78).
| Did it have wireless streaming video? |
They face possible charges but are not suspected of being responsible for the score of intrusions by much more elaborate drones in the restricted airspace over 13 nuclear power stations since early October. "They appear to be model aircraft enthusiasts," a source in the investigation told the newspaper Le Parisien. "The machine they were using was sophisticated enough but not military or professional. It was a toy. Whether they were doing it for fun or they had some political motive is not yet clear."
| My father is a model airplane enthusiast; he's been flying them for 50+ years. Not once has he flown one around or over a nuclear power station. What are the first names of these three 'enthusiasts'? |
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