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Nuclear waste shipment reaches storage facility
Source: Agencies |
November 10, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
A SHIPMENT of nuclear waste from France reached a storage facility in Germany yesterday, after police worked through the night to clear a road blocked by more-than 3,000 protesters.
For nearly four days, anti-nuclear protesters rappelled from bridges, undermined roads, and formed human shields across the shipment's route to slow it down.
A shepherdess even herded her flock of 500 sheep and some 60 goats across the road between Dannenberg - where the shipment was offloaded from train onto trucks - and Gorleben on Monday in a bid to slow the transport down.
The German nuclear waste, which is reprocessed in France, set off by train on Friday on its 1,500 kilometer journey from Valognes to Gorleben, which took 92 hours, making this the longest the regular transport has ever taken, following a 79 hour trip in 2008.
Some 20,000 police secured the transport along its route, and there were sporadic clashes with demonstrators, although the protests remained largely peaceful.
The protesters were galvanized after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government voted to extend the life of the country's 17 atomic power plants by an average of 12 years.
"Whomever extends the time for atomic power plants, must also count on an extended time for atomic waste transports," said Wolfgang Ehmke, a spokesman for protest organizers.
Thomas Osterroth, the head of the area's federal police, said some of the protesters were aggressive toward officers.
In one of the largest scuffles, riot police on Sunday tried to stop up to 4,000 protesters making their way through the woods onto the tracks near Dannenberg ahead of the nuclear waste train. Police used water cannons and pepper spray to break up the protest, but some still reached the rail line.
For nearly four days, anti-nuclear protesters rappelled from bridges, undermined roads, and formed human shields across the shipment's route to slow it down.
A shepherdess even herded her flock of 500 sheep and some 60 goats across the road between Dannenberg - where the shipment was offloaded from train onto trucks - and Gorleben on Monday in a bid to slow the transport down.
The German nuclear waste, which is reprocessed in France, set off by train on Friday on its 1,500 kilometer journey from Valognes to Gorleben, which took 92 hours, making this the longest the regular transport has ever taken, following a 79 hour trip in 2008.
Some 20,000 police secured the transport along its route, and there were sporadic clashes with demonstrators, although the protests remained largely peaceful.
The protesters were galvanized after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government voted to extend the life of the country's 17 atomic power plants by an average of 12 years.
"Whomever extends the time for atomic power plants, must also count on an extended time for atomic waste transports," said Wolfgang Ehmke, a spokesman for protest organizers.
Thomas Osterroth, the head of the area's federal police, said some of the protesters were aggressive toward officers.
In one of the largest scuffles, riot police on Sunday tried to stop up to 4,000 protesters making their way through the woods onto the tracks near Dannenberg ahead of the nuclear waste train. Police used water cannons and pepper spray to break up the protest, but some still reached the rail line.
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