France scrambled MIrage 2000 after German's wayward flight over nuclear power station

A Mirage 2000 fighter jet was scrambled after a German tourist set off alarm bells after flying his microlight aircraft over two nuclear power stations in the south of France.
The German, who had taken off from Avignon on August 1st for a day’s flying, was forced by authorities to land in the town of Valence escorted by the Mirage 2000.
Security at French nuclear power stations has been repeatedly called into question in recent years. Anti-Nuclear campaigners calling for plants to be closed claiming the poor security makes them an easy terrorist target.
In March this year, around 60 activists from Greenpeace stormed Fessenheim plant - France’s oldest power station to highlight the lack of security and denounce “the risks” taken by France and other countries in Europe by continuing to use nuclear power.
For his part, the German tourist insisted there was nothing sinister behind his flight, telling police that he had flown over the sites by mistake.
He said he flown too low and didn’t look carefully enough at the navigational charts.
He was released after questioning.
However, in May a German doctor was handed a six month suspended sentence after landing his paraglider on the site of the nuclear power plant at Bugey in south eastern France.
thelocal