French police arrested three people found in possession of remote-controlled helicopter near one of the nuclear plants involved in a series of mystery overflights by the unmanned aircraft, a source close to the investigation said.
Police held two men, aged 24 and 31, and a woman, 21, near the near the Belleville-sur-Loire reactor in the Cher region south of Paris.
They were found in possession of an unmanned aircraft with a diameter of about 80cm, a couple of hundred metres from the plant – well inside the 5km no-fly zone implemented around all nuclear sites in France.
However a police source told Le Monde newspaper the trio were not immediately considered suspects in relation to the at least 15 flights over reactors reported around the country in October.
Europe 1 reported they were model aeroplane flying lovers, although it was not clear why they were so close to a nuclear plant.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said last week that France had launched an investigation after drones were repeatedly sighted over seven of power utility EDF’s atomic plants, raising concerns over nuclear safety.
The drones in question were very small, but police have given no indication of their exact nature.
French law bans aircraft of all types from flying within five kilometers of nuclear facilities.
Source: Reuters
Well, it seems now they are looking for model plane aficionados close to nuclear facilities they also find them. And it looks as if their plane does not resemble the “drones” spotted earlier. Which may lead to an ugly conclusion: these drones were spy planes (like the infamous U2s in US/Soviet relations) run by either terrorists or foreign (or even domestic!) services testing for angles of possible attack …