German protests as nuclear train enters from France
- Thread starter Monster
- Start date
Thousands protest against Castor transport (ZDF; German)
Police and Protesters before long Castor night (ARD/NDR; German)
It's been one of this week's major events here in Germany. Police and transport companies have been playing hide and seek with the protesters (for instance, they announced there'll be three possible routes over the German/French border; they chose Saarbruecken, the most unexpected one; and they travel mostly at strange hours when nobody is looking).
Police and Protesters before long Castor night (ARD/NDR; German)
It's been one of this week's major events here in Germany. Police and transport companies have been playing hide and seek with the protesters (for instance, they announced there'll be three possible routes over the German/French border; they chose Saarbruecken, the most unexpected one; and they travel mostly at strange hours when nobody is looking).
Another possible route would've been right here where I live. We're pretty used to large contingents of police showing up when there's another Castor transport. In this area, there's also the Philippsburg nuclear power plant and the Karlsruhe nuclear research facility.
Photo: AP
Police face demonstrators while in background the train with nuclear waste is heading for the storage in Gorleben, in Vastorf, northern Germany. German police cleared a sit-in of thousands of protesters attempting to block a shipment of nuclear waste and detained 1,300 people, November 27, 2011. German Police Remove Anti-Nuclear Protesters From Rail Track
Thanks for these news items! 
NDR has a page dedicated to the transport (NDR = public North German Broadcasting station) ( German; Google-translated to English )
Each one of the CASTOR containers weighs approx. 100 metric tons and has a radiation capacity of 56 kWh, that's the output of a small power plant. In the direct vicinity of the container, 2 mSv/h radiation dose is permitted. In the distance of 2 meters, 0.1 mSv/h or so (that's from gamma rays). There are many safety objections, b/c the company didn't test potential problems w/ full-sized containers. In theory, the containers can withstand a direct air plane impact, temperatures of 1200 °C, and direct train collisions at 160 km/h, but that's only theoretical. Greenpeace today measured that radiation levels emitted from the containers are too high. The containers have been outputting more radiation, b/c the fuel has been used more efficiently and leaves higher radioactive waste.
The intermediate storage facility in Gorleben (which currently is permanent b/c there is no permanent storage yet, and hasn't for decades) is said to have already reached its radiation level maximum, but they're still storing new containers into it, b/c there's currently no alternative. Some North European country plans to build a large underground facility for storage of spent nuclear fuel, but this might still take some years or decades even.
There are many concerns that the CASTOR transports cause radiation damage to people and nature (livestock, plantations etc.), especially when the transport is paused. In France, the train was stopped for 1 day in some town, which caused many protests.
Right now the containers are being loaded onto trucks for transport to Gorleben.
NDR has a page dedicated to the transport (NDR = public North German Broadcasting station) ( German; Google-translated to English )
Each one of the CASTOR containers weighs approx. 100 metric tons and has a radiation capacity of 56 kWh, that's the output of a small power plant. In the direct vicinity of the container, 2 mSv/h radiation dose is permitted. In the distance of 2 meters, 0.1 mSv/h or so (that's from gamma rays). There are many safety objections, b/c the company didn't test potential problems w/ full-sized containers. In theory, the containers can withstand a direct air plane impact, temperatures of 1200 °C, and direct train collisions at 160 km/h, but that's only theoretical. Greenpeace today measured that radiation levels emitted from the containers are too high. The containers have been outputting more radiation, b/c the fuel has been used more efficiently and leaves higher radioactive waste.
The intermediate storage facility in Gorleben (which currently is permanent b/c there is no permanent storage yet, and hasn't for decades) is said to have already reached its radiation level maximum, but they're still storing new containers into it, b/c there's currently no alternative. Some North European country plans to build a large underground facility for storage of spent nuclear fuel, but this might still take some years or decades even.
There are many concerns that the CASTOR transports cause radiation damage to people and nature (livestock, plantations etc.), especially when the transport is paused. In France, the train was stopped for 1 day in some town, which caused many protests.
Right now the containers are being loaded onto trucks for transport to Gorleben.
A demonstrator wearing a death mask stands on a field as containers with nuclear waste pass by, northern Germany, Monday.
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