SUBSCRIBE TO TMCnet
TMCnet - World's Largest Communications and Technology Community

CHANNEL BY TOPICS


QUICK LINKS




German nuclear waste finally reaches storage site

Associated Press Featured Article

November 12, 2010

German nuclear waste finally reaches storage site

By Associated Press ,

DANNENBERG, Germany (AP) — A shipment of nuclear waste from France reached a storage facility in northwestern Germany on Tuesday after police worked through the night to clear a road blockade by over 3,000 protesters.

For nearly four days, anti–nuclear protesters have rappelled from bridges, undermined roads, and formed human shields across the shipment's route in an attempt to slow it down. A shepherdess even herded 500 sheep and some 60 goats across the road Monday between Dannenberg — where the shipment was offloaded from train cars onto trucks — and Gorleben in a bid to slow it down.


The German nuclear waste, which is reprocessed in France, set off by train Friday on a 930–mile (1,500 kilometer) journey from Valognes to Gorleben. The trip took 92 hours — making this the slowest journey the regular transport has ever taken, after a 79–hour trip in 2008.

Some 20,000 German police sporadically clashed with demonstrators to secure the transport route although the protests remained largely peaceful.

Nuclear energy has been unpopular in Germany since fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine drifted over the country. But anti–nuclear protests have been galvanized after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government recently 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 protest spokesman.

In the largest scuffles, riot police on Sunday tried to stop up to 4,000 protesters making their way through the woods onto train tracks near Dannenberg ahead of the nuclear waste train. Police used water cannons and pepper spray and wrestled with activists to break up the protest, but some still reached the rail line.

On Saturday, at least 25,000 people — organizers gave the figure as more than 50,000 — demonstrated peacefully outside Dannenberg, the biggest protest ever against the shipments.

Germany receives waste shipments roughly every year. The solid nuclear waste in encased in glass that is then encased in 16–inch (40–centimeter) –thick steel containers.

A decade ago, a previous German government embarked on plans to phase nuclear power out entirely by 2021 — but that was upended this year by Merkel's government. Germany has no plans to build any new nuclear plants, but Merkel says atomic power is needed to keep energy cheap and available as the country switches to rely more on renewable sources.

Activists say neither the waste containers nor the Gorleben site, a temporary storage facility, are safe. Critics call the nuclear plan a windfall for Germany's biggest energy companies and for the government, which is demanding millions in extra funds from the energy companies to transition to renewable energy.

______

Rising reported from Berlin

Related Images:


 A Robin wood activist hangs on a rope crossing a road close to the nuclear interim storage facility in Gorleben, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. A shipment of nuclear waste from France made it to a storage facility in northwestern Germany on Tuesday, after police worked through the night to clear a road blockade by more-than 3,000 protesters. Banner reads 'Final Stop, Atom, all get off immediately'. (AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

 A flatbed trailer carrying Castors with nuclear waste arrives at the nuclear interim storage facility in Gorleben, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. A shipment of nuclear waste from France made it to a storage facility in northwestern Germany on Tuesday, after police worked through the night to clear a road blockade by more-than 3,000 protesters.(AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

 Flatbed trailer carrying Castors with nuclear waste arrive at the nuclear interim storage facility in Gorleben, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. A shipment of nuclear waste from France made it to a storage facility in northwestern Germany on Tuesday, after police worked through the night to clear a road blockade by more-than 3,000 protesters. (AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

 A truck of environmental organization Greenpeace blocks a road junction in Dannenberg, northern Germany, Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, prior to a road shipment of nuclear waste reaching them. The truck is adapted with flaps to prevent it from being moved. The shipment of nuclear waste from France eventually made it to a storage facility in northwestern Germany on Tuesday, after police worked through the night to clear a road blockade by more-than 3,000 protesters. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

 ** CORRECTS TO ADD DATE ** An activist of the environmental organization Robin Wood hangs from a rope that was fixed between two trees during a protest against the nuclear waste transport in Gorleben, northern Germany Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010. Trucks carrying 123 tons of nuclear waste have finally reached the storage facility in Gorleben after police worked through the night to clear thousands of protesters blockading the roads. Banner reads 'Final Stop, Atom, all get off immediately'. (AP Photo/dapd, Thomas Lohnes)

 An activist of the environmental organization Robin Wood hangs from a rope that was fixed between two trees during a protest against the nuclear waste transport in Gorleben, northern Germany Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010. Trucks carrying 123 tons of nuclear waste have finally reached the storage facility in Gorleben after police worked through the night to clear thousands of protesters blockading the roads. Banner reads 'Final Stop, Atom, all get off immediately'. (AP Photo/dapd, Thomas Lohnes)

 A member of environmental organization Greenpeace looks out of a truck in which she fixed herself for more than eleven hours in a concrete block in Dannenberg, northern Germany, Monday, Nov. 8, 2010. The truck blocks the first crossroad where a transport of nuclear way is supposed to pass. The shipment reached a railway depot in Dannenberg on Monday, where workers spent the day transferring containers of nuclear waste from the rails to trucks that are to carry it on the last leg of its journey to the site in Gorleben, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

 A member of environmental organization Greenpeace is carried out of a truck by police officers in which she fixed herself in a concrete block for more than eleven hours in Dannenberg, northern Germany, early Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. The truck with a special boxes set inside and under that blocked the first crossroad where the transport of nuclear way is supposed to pass for more than eleven hours. The shipment reached a railway depot in Dannenberg on Monday, where workers spent the day transferring containers of nuclear waste from the rails to trucks that are to carry it on the last leg of its journey to the site in Gorleben, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

 A member of environmental organization Greenpeace looks out of a window on which he is fixed in a van in Dannenberg, northern Germany, Monday, Nov. 8, 2010. The van with its special box construction blocks the first cross road where a transport of nuclear way is supposed to pass soon. The inside box was put down on the street so that the van cannot be moved. The castor train with nuclear waste was underway from French La Hague with delay due to various protests of anti nuclear activists. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

 A member of environmental organization Greenpeace is carried out of a truck in which she was fixed in a concrete block for more than eleven hours in Dannenberg, northern Germany, early Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. The truck with a special box construction inside and under the truck blocked the first cross road where a transport of nuclear way is supposed to pass for more than eleven hours. The castor train with nuclear waste is underway from French La Hague to the nuclear interim storage plant in Gorleben. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)



View All Associated Press Articles
Featured White Papers





Technology Marketing Corporation

2 Trap Falls Road Suite 106, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Ph: +1-203-852-6800, 800-243-6002

General comments: [email protected].
Comments about this site: [email protected].

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY

© 2024 Technology Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy