Paris, France (CNN) -- Anti-nuclear protesters blocked a train carrying nuclear waste in northwestern France Friday, chaining themselves to the railroad tracks on which the train was travelling, according to local police.
Four French protesters and one German halted the shipment near a train station in Caen. Other demonstrators gathered near the protesters on the track and at the train station, city police Capt. Maurice Bonnefond told CNN.
The train stopped well before the site where the protesters were chained, he said. The demonstrators were forcibly removed from the tracks by police, Bonnefond added.
The anti-nuclear organization and Greenpeace ally GANVA, or the Non-Violent Anti-Nuclear Action Group, in English, claimed responsibility for the protest.
On its website, GANVA said its members took the action because "nuclear waste exposes the population to unmeasurable risks".
"It's a short-term risk in the case of an accident, but also a long-term risk for their health," a statement on the group's website said.
Fuel rods from nuclear power plants are transferred each year between Germany and France, commonly drawing protests.
CNN
