Nuclear train finally arrives 

BBC 28mar01

[German Nuclear Train Blocked: Retreats Amid Riot AP 28mar01 below]
[Police Clear Track for Nuclear Cargo BBC 28mar01 below]

  1. La Hague - Six nuclear containers leave by train early 26mar01

  2. Karlsruhe - Train crosses into Germany late on 26ma601

  3. Göttingen - Train takes detour to avoid the town - protesters on the line

  4. Lueneburg - Police clear several hundred protesters from tracks

  5. Dahlenburg - Police detain 150 protesters. Some people chain themselves to the tracks

  6. Dannenberg - Had been due to arrive late 27mar01 but train forced back after police fight running battles with protesters

  7. Gorleben - The fuel containers to be taken by truck to the nuclear storage site

The train carrying a cargo of nuclear waste has finally arrived at its destination at a rail depot in northern Germany, after police cleared the railway line of protesters.

The train entered the town of Dannenberg just after 1930 local time (1730gmt), one day later than scheduled, with riot police and water cannon posted along its route.

Inside the rail depot - which has been sealed off - the authorities now plan to load the six containers of reprocessed waste onto trucks, for the last leg of the journey to a nuclear storage site at Gorleben.

Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters have been trying to disrupt the controversial cargo's progress since it left France three days ago. Up to 20,000 police have been involved in the operation to stop them.

The train's arrival came after two protesters had briefly managed to block the line again.
Police arrive in Dannenberg
A protester on top of the train flashes a victory sign
A passenger train was used to evict protesters from the track

Tied down: Protesters were firmly attached to the line

Forced removal
Earlier, police had managed to free four protesters who had attached themselves to the tracks using chains embedded in tubes which had been sunk into the ground and filled with concrete.

Throughout Wednesday, riot police officers were forcibly removing several hundred other protesters from a sit-in on the railway line.

The cargo had earlier been reversed up the track to about 25km away from the rail terminal in Dannenberg, where the nuclear waste containers must be transferred to trucks for the final journey to a storage site at Gorleben.

But with further protests anticipated, it is unclear when this final phase can take place.

Authorities said repairs to the rails would have to be carried out before the train, now nearly a full day late, can continue.

Police spokesman Wolfgang Klages, said: "I hope it can move off today but it all depends how long the repairs take."

Our correspondents say the whole saga, involving a huge and costly security operation, is becoming more embarrassing for the German Government by the hour.

Spent fuel from German power plants is sent abroad for reprocessing, but the contracts oblige Germany to take back the resulting waste.

Last year, the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens struck a deal to phase out nuclear energy.

But the compromise reached with the nuclear industry would allow some reactors to remain in service for more than 20 years - far too long for some anti-nuclear campaigners who have denounced the Greens for backing the deal.

Riot police reinforcements were sent to Dannenberg on Tuesday after clashes involving an estimated 5,000 protesters.

About 20,000 police were in action in Germany's biggest security operation in years after protesters turned the last transport of nuclear waste in 1997 into chaos.

Protesters fought sporadic battles to try to bring the train to a halt on Tuesday and succeeded when five members of the anarchist "Robin Wood" group chained themselves to the track.

Since midnight on Tuesday, officers using pneumatic drills had been struggling to free the protesters.

The last to be released had been on the tracks for 14 hours in freezing conditions, but appeared in remarkably good shape as police led him away.

German Nuclear Train Blocked

Retreats Amid Riot 

Stephen Graham / AP 28mar01

DANNENBERG, Germany  - A train delivering 60 tons of nuclear waste to a German storage site was forced to retreat Wednesday after protesters clashed with police and some chained themselves to the rails.

Police and medical crews worked through the night to dislodge four chained protesters who laid across the tracks in freezing temperatures, removing the last one around noon Wednesday. At times, the buzz of heavy drills echoed through the North German woods.

``I don't think even these people expected it to last so long,'' police spokesman Wolfgang Klages said. ``Now the tracks will have to be repaired.''

After sporadic protests Tuesday along the route across Germany, the 15-hour rail blockade further delayed the train's arrival at the north German town of Dannenberg.

From the end of the rail line in Dannenberg, flatbed trucks will bring the six containers - each with about 10 tons of radioactive waste sealed in 28 glass casks - to the Gorleben nuclear waste dump, ending the waste's 375-mile trip from a French reprocessing plant.

Officials hoped the convoy, which reversed early Wednesday to a station some 16 miles short of Dannenberg, would arrive later in the day at the town's rail terminal.

But more small groups still occupied the tracks and several hundred protesters skirmished in Dannenberg with police, who cleared away makeshift roadblocks.

Riot police sent reinforcements to the northern German town after militants threw stones, fired flares and set a police car afire Tuesday night. Police replied with water cannon and baton charges.

Police said five officers were injured in the clashes, one seriously. Some 600 protesters were taken into custody. The protesters said dozens on their side were injured. About 20,000 police were in action in Germany's biggest security operation in years after militants turned the last transport in 1997 into chaos.

In Berlin, the government urged calm Wednesday. Interior Minister Otto Schily told a regular Cabinet meeting he ``was concerned at the violence on the part of a militant minority,'' government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said.

The protesters object to what they say is highly dangerous radioactive waste being transported through Germany, and hope to make the transports so costly the government will call them to a halt.

Police vans were stationed along the approach road to the dump at Gorleben and the road was sealed off with barbed wire, while officers on horseback patrolled the nearby forest and heat-sensitive cameras were being used.

Throughout Tuesday, the convoy was greeted by sporadic protests as it chugged northeast from France. It took a detour to avoid the university city of Göttingen, where hundreds of people briefly occupied the tracks. Dozens of people were arrested along the route.

German and French leaders agreed on a resumption of nuclear waste traffic last January, with the German government saying it has tightened safety rules for the transports since the previous administration suspended shipments in 1998 because of radioactive leaks on some containers.

Spent nuclear fuel from German power plants is sent abroad for reprocessing, but the contracts oblige Germany to take back the resulting waste.

Police Clear Track for Nuclear Cargo 

BBC 28mar01

German police have freed the last few demonstrators locked to a railway line in a protest against a controversial cargo of nuclear waste.

Police had been fighting since midnight on Tuesday to free two protesters who were chained to the tracks.

The anti-nuclear protesters, at Dannenberg in northern Germany, attached themselves to the track using chains embedded in tubes which had been sunk into the ground and filled with concrete.

Riot officers are now forcibly removing several hundred other protesters from a sit-in on the railway line.

The cargo had earlier been reversed up the track to about 25km away from the rail terminal in Dannenberg, where the nuclear waste containers must be transferred to trucks for the final journey to a storage site at Gorleben.

But with further protests anticipated, it is unclear how long that will take.

Police reinforcements

The spent nuclear fuel from German power plants is returning from reprocessing in France.

Spent fuel from German power plants is sent abroad for reprocessing, but the contracts oblige Germany to take back the resulting waste.

Last year, the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens struck a deal to phase out nuclear energy.

But the compromise reached with the nuclear industry would allow some reactors to remain in service for more than 20 years - far too long for some anti-nuclear campaigners.

Sporadic battles

Riot police reinforcements were sent to Dannenberg on Tuesday after clashes involving an estimated 5,000 protesters.

About 20,000 police were in action in Germany's biggest security operation in years after protesters turned the last transport of nuclear waste in 1997 into chaos.

Protesters fought sporadic battles to try to bring the train to a halt on Tuesday and succeeded when five members of the anarchist "Robin Wood" group chained themselves to the track.

Since midnight on Tuesday, officers using pneumatic drills been struggling to free the protesters.

Protester Jürgen Sattari said he considered the operation a success.

"We want to stop the convoy," he said.

"Of course we know we can't halt it indefinitely, but we can drive up the political price."

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