GERMANY: AHAUS: PROTESTS AS NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT ARRIVES скачать в хорошем качестве

GERMANY: AHAUS: PROTESTS AS NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENT ARRIVES

(21 Mar 1998) Natural Sound Police used water cannons and dogs to hold back thousands of anti-nuclear demonstrators on Friday as a train loaded with 60 tons of atomic waste arrived at a temporary storage site in northern Germany. Despite the efforts of 30-thousand police to keep the rails clear, protesters repeatedly delayed the train along its 400-kilometre (250-mile), day-long trek. Some staged sit-ins on the tracks, while others chained themselves to the rails, only to be cut loose by police. By noon on Friday in Ahaus, 1-thousand-200 police had surrounded about 400 protesters occupying a train crossing. When the train finally pulled in several hours late, about 6-thousand demonstrators were at the storage site. Some protesters threw rocks and bottles at police, but most of the demonstrators were peaceful. Even as the train approached the town, rolling at a walking pace, the train had to stop because of activists chained to the rails. Police with dogs and water cannons kept more than 2-thousand-500 protesters from pushing toward the train, which had to wait about an hour for the all-clear before covering the last 5 kilometres (3 miles). 450 activists were arrested, while seven demonstrators and an unknown number of police were injured. Energy officials moved this year's shipment by a week in a bid to avoid aggressive anti-nuclear activists who had big demonstrations planned. Officials feared violence as well as danger to the waste, transported in 12 massive containers. Activists say the containers are not leakproof, despite government assurances, and so shipping the waste could cause an environmental disaster. They also complain that the waste will sit indefinitely at the temporary site, because Germany has no plans yet for permanent storage. Most want Germany to shut its nuclear power plants altogether. Three previous nuclear waste transports since 1995 have all triggered similarly fierce protests in Germany, where anti-nuclear sentiment is strong. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...