But the train was able to travel from a factory run by the nuclear giant Areva to the northern port of Cherbourg where the cargo is to be loaded onto a ship headed for Russia.

Yannick Rousselet, head of Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign in France, began his protest late Sunday, laying on the tracks and chaining both arms to the railway.

After the chains were cut, Rousselet was questioned at a Cherbourg police station.

"Despite our modest means, we have been able to thwart Areva's plan to discretely resume its waste traffic on the day when the world's eyes are on Copenhagen," said Rousselet in a statement.

International negotiators on Monday started talks to forge a climate change accord to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Defending nuclear energy as environmentally safe, Areva chairman Anne Lauvergeon said: "Nuclear energy does not produce CO2 gas. This is truly the way to fight climate change."

"This demonstrates that Greenpeace is fighting the wrong battle," Lauvergeon told France Info radio.

According to Areva, the low-grade uranium will be enriched in Russia before being sent back to France to produce nuclear fuel.

Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo has ordered a probe into the uranium shipments after questions were raised over a shortfall in the amount returned to France.

Areva maintains the low-grade uranium shipments are not nuclear waste, which are barred from export under French law.

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