PARIS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande on Monday said that security of the country's nuclear plants was "absolutely respected" after a group of Greenpeace activists infiltrated into a nuclear power site in southern France.
"France is strongly committed to nuclear security and authority of nuclear safety is ensuring that...," Hollande said.
"It also offered all the guarantees to make sure that nuclear security is absolutely respected," he told a joint press conference with visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris.
Earlier in the day, a group of Greepeace activists broke into an EDF nuclear power plant in Tricastin in southern France demanding the French government shut down the site, citing safety concerns.
The activists hung banners on the wall above the picture of French President Hollande in the plant, reading "Tricastin: a nuclear accident" and questioning "President of the catastrophe?"
The Interior Ministry said 29 activists were arrested and placed in custody.
They risked one-year imprisonment and a payment of 15,000 euros in fine, according to local media reports.
France operates 58 reactors and has been a leading international proponent of nuclear energy. However, closing nuclear plants has been a controversial issue in the country as France is the most nuclear-energy relying country in the world, with 75 percent of its power coming from nuclear sources.
During his election campaign, President Hollande had pledged to cut the share of nuclear energy in France's electricity production to 50 percent by 2025, promising to close the country's oldest plant at Fessenheim by 2017.
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