Greenpeace Activists Storm Nuclear Summit Stage, Confronting Macron and IAEA Chief

Dressed sharply in black suits and ties, two Greenpeace activists broke onto the stage at the opening of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Summit in Boulogne-Billancourt on March 10, unfurling banners bearing the Greenpeace logo as French President Emmanuel Macron and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stood mid-greeting with assembled heads of state.

The banners read "Nuclear Power = Energy Insecurity" and "Nuclear power fuels Russia's war." Before security personnel removed the pair from the stage, one activist shouted, "Why are we buying uranium from Russia?" Simultaneously, around 15 additional Greenpeace activists blocked arriving convoys outside the venue on the outskirts of Paris.

The disruption landed at a particularly charged moment. Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had gathered world leaders at what France billed as the second world nuclear energy summit to push for expanded civilian nuclear power across Europe, framing atomic energy as essential to the continent's energy independence. Von der Leyen argued that Europe's retreat from nuclear had left it exposed to fossil fuel vulnerability, a message amplified by the ongoing conflict context surrounding the summit.

Greenpeace France was unsparing in its response. "For Greenpeace France, the holding of such a summit is an anachronism, an event completely out of touch with reality and with the lessons to be learned from the tragic situations of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the strikes on Iran, and the impacts of the worsening climate disruption," the group said in a statement.

The protest drew a direct line between nuclear expansion and Europe's entanglement with Russian supply chains. According to the World Nuclear Association, Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom accounted for approximately 44% of global uranium enrichment capacity in 2025, and European producers have struggled to reduce that dependence in the four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Greenpeace has specifically accused France of maintaining active ties with Rosatom throughout that period. In 2018, French energy company EDF signed a multi-million deal with Rosatom subsidiary Tenex, under which reprocessed uranium from French nuclear power plants was shipped to Russia for conversion and re-enrichment before being returned for use in power production.

No arrests were reported following the stage intrusion. The two activists were removed by security personnel, and no formal charges or detentions beyond that removal have been confirmed in available reporting. The summit itself continued after the interruption, with leaders pressing forward on discussions about nuclear power's role in securing European energy sovereignty.