GORLEBEN, Germany: A convoy of 123 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste arrived at its storage site in Germany Tuesday, following days of furious protests that massively delayed the shipment.
Accompanied by swarms of riot police and dozens of armoured police cars, the convoy of 11 white containers on lorries crawled slowly into its storage site at Gorleben, northern Germany, after a 20-kilometre road trip.
The shipment left France on Friday and endured a tortuous 67-hour journey by train as activists did everything they could to delay its progress including removing stones supporting train tracks and abseiling from bridges.
The train arrived in Dannenberg near Gorleben on Monday and authorities spent most of the day transferring the cargo onto lorries for its final journey.
Police then spent most of Monday night clearing some 3,000 activists trying to delay the arrival of the shipment further.
In a final act of defiance, activists had deployed a container lorry of their own to block the route, witnesses said.
Activists hailed the huge delay as a triumph and said the growing anti-nuclear movement in Germany would be further strengthened by the high-profile protests.
“We draw new strength from these protests and feel supported by a broad and decisive moment,” said Florian Kubitz, from activist group Robin Wood.
A recent poll commissioned by Greenpeace showed 80 per cent of people “had understanding” for the protests.
After a dramatic day of cat-and-mouse on Sunday, during which some masked activists fought pitched battles with baton-wielding police enveloped in clouds of tear gas, the protests on Tuesday were peaceful.
Shipments to Gorleben regularly attract protests, but this year they have been particularly strong, fired up by fury at Chancellor Angela Merkel’s aim to postpone the deadline for Germany to abandon nuclear power.
Another survey in September showed 59 per cent of respondents opposed the extension, with just 37 per cent in favour.
Protest group Castor Schottern said two demonstrators were seriously injured in clashes with police on Sunday. Twenty-nine had head cuts, three people had concussion and there were 16 broken fingers, it said.
The group said its supporters had suffered around 1,000 injuries in all, mainly to the eyes as police deployed pepper spray and tear gas.
Around 20,000 police were mobilised for this shipment, the 12th, the head of the DPolG police union Rainer Wendt said. The police operation has cost around 70 million dollars, authorities said.
To add to the police’s problems, at one point 2,000 sheep and 50 goats were apparently shepherded onto the road by demonstrators.
Gorleben is one of two main “intermediary” storage sites for highly radioactive nuclear materials, and government experts are continuing to assess whether it is suitable as a permanent site.
Merkel wants to extend the lifetime of Germany’s 17 reactors by up to 14 years beyond a scheduled shutdown of around 2020 as a “bridge” until renewable sources like solar and wind power produce more electricity.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin in September against the extension, and protestors have warned of more to come.
“The protests in Gorleben show Angela Merkel has in fact won little with her nuclear policy and lost a lot politically.” the influential news magazine Spiegel said on its website. – AFP
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