Greenpeace parked a cargo container at the entrance to an aging Spanish nuclear power plant Thursday and some of its activists climbed inside, in a protest demanding the facility's immediate closure.
Other activists chained themselves to the gate of the plant in Garona in northern Spain, the environmental group said. The entrance was not blocked.
Greenpeace said the protest is to press the government to shut down Garona immediately and eventually Spain's five other nuclear power plants. Greenpeace said the Garona plant, which came on line in 1970, is obsolete and has safety problems.
Spain's six nuclear plants provide 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the country, according to the Industry Ministry.
In its general election campaign earlier this year, the ruling Socialist party said it would phase out nuclear energy in favor of renewable sources.
"It is time the Socialist government lived up to its pledge to close Garona and the other nuclear plants, said Greenpeace's director in Spain, Juan Lopez de Uralde.
Industry Ministry Miguel Sebastian said in an interview published Thursday that the government is open to letting utilities invest money in existing plants to improve safety and prolong their operating lives.
"Otherwise, they will gradually be closed as planned," Sebastian was quoted as saying by the newspaper Publico.
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