Train carrying German nuke waste rumbles across France

Train carrying German nuke waste rumbles across France
REUTERS

PARIS, MAR 26: A high-security freight train shipping nuclear waste back to Germany rumbled across northern France almost unnoticed on Monday, in contrast to the protests expected once it crosses the border before midnight.The train, made up of six flatcars carrying massive Castor containers with the nuclear waste and passenger cars fore and aft packed with police, left a Normandy train terminal before dawn under the watchful eyes of only a dozen demonstrators.

Police reported no incidents by midday as it passed near Amiens and said the 1,500 police guarding the train along the way should have no problem if any protests arose.

“We have deployed a significant surveillance force to make sure the cards are stacked in our favour,” a spokesman said.

There were no signs of anti-nuclear demonstrators near the railway border crossing at Lauterbourg, where the nuclear transport was due to enter Germany at 2200 GMT on Monday night.

Along the route to the Gorleben waste storage site in northern Germany, police said fewer protesters were camping out waiting for the train than organisers had hoped.

“I am very relaxed because the protest potential...is clearly below their own expectations,” said Hans Reime, leading the police operation based in Lueneburg. French anti-nuclear activists said they planned protestslater in the day as the train passed through Bar-le-Duc and Nancy in eastern France.