Protests as French uranium arrives in Russia

A cargo loaded with depleted uranium from France docked in Saint Petersburg, as Russian activists protested at the nuclear waste exports.

A cargo loaded with depleted uranium from France docked Monday in Russia's port city of Saint Petersburg, Greenpeace said, as Russian activists protested at the nuclear waste exports.

- The Kapitan Kuroptev, loaded with 650 tonnes of depleted uranium, has arrived in Saint Petersburg - the Russian branch of the environmental watchdog said in a statement.

The uranium, from French nuclear giant Areva, is headed for Siberia.

Some 20 environmental activists staged a protest in the centre of Saint Petersburg against the export of nuclear waste as the ship arrived. Greenpeace members had tried to stop the shipment from leaving France a week ago.

- We have sent a letter of protest to the French consulate for the French ecology minister - Rachid Alimov, from Russian environment group ECOperestroika, told AFP.

Areva has said that the uranium has been sent to Russia for treatment so it can be reused in French facilities, a process for which France does not have the capacity.

Greenpeace says the cargo is nuclear waste that is being dumped in Russia.

The environmental groups says Areva and its counterpart Urenco, headquartered in Britain, have sent close to 140,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to Russia in the past 15 years.