Sun Oct 16, 2011-

Thousands of activists have staged demonstrations in seven cities across France, calling for an end to all forms of nuclear activity in the country.

Some 25,000 activists from 900 French anti-nuclear groups took part in the Saturday rallies, which were organized by Sortir du nucléaire (Nuclear phase-out) federation.

The demonstrators called on the government to halt all its military and civilian nuclear activities, and criticized Paris for continuing its nuclear policy while France’s neighboring countries have already announced plans to scrap their nuclear facilities, AFP reported.

The protesters particularly called for the closure of Bugey nuclear plant in eastern France, which they say is susceptible to high risks of earthquake and flood.

They also held a minute of silence in honor of the victims of Fukushima nuclear disaster in eastern Japan, and urged the French government to take lessons from Japan’s tragedy and turn to renewable energies.

Since a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami on March 11, the Daiichi Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has been leaking radiation into the air, soil.

The quake triggered a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems at the nuclear power plant on Japan’s northeast coast.