10 to 20 thousand Germans out against nuclear waste
Diet Simon - 23.10.2010 16:29
Germans protested against transportation of highly radioactive waste at 120 different locations across the country Today (Sat 23 Oct).
Organisers claim a turnout of 10,000 to 20,000 people.
The protests were along three railway routes where socalled CASTOR containers are to run within weeks.
A CASTOR casket
Each CASTOR is claimed to contain eight times as much radiation as was released by the Hiroshima atom bomb or 1.6 times as much as released by the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986.
There were demonstrations with several hundred to 3,000 (Hanover) people, as well as information stands, bicycle tours and even some solo actors. At several places activists decided to turn out spontaneously during the day.
For many participants it was a warm-up for the protests two weeks from now against a consignment of 11 CASTORS (88 Hiroshimas!) from France to the village of Gorleben, about equidistant between Hanover and Hamburg. About 20,000 people are expected for that.
In addition to that shipment, three more CASTOR consignments are to move this year from Karlsruhe to Greifswald, from Jülich to Ahaus and from Ahaus to Russia.
"Those playing with atomic fire will have to count on very broad resistance in future,” said Peter Dickel, one of the coordinators of the day. Recent anti-nuclear demonstrations mobilised 100,000 people in Berlin, 50,000 in Munich.
More information from Christina Albrecht, ROBIN WOOD coordinator, Tel. 0151 / 50 19 40 26
A place-by-place news wire is at  http://www.castor-strecken-aktionstag.de/
Information on the CASTOR transport to Gorleben is available in English at http://indymedia.org.au/, in German at ww.robinwood.de/castor2010/.
Other actions planned for the weeks ahead:
• Thursday 28 October 8 a.m. around the government quarter of Berlin, coffee and cake and NO to nuclear power.
• Saturday 6 November, 1 to 4 pm nationwide demonstration with kids and everyone else: Stop the CASTOR, stop atomic power!
• 5 - 11 November, actions in the Gorleben area.
Organisers claim that at least 500 additional consignments of CASTOR containers will travel if the operating lives of 17 nuclear power stations are extended, which the conservative-led government plans to do by parliamentary decision next Thursday, 28 Oct.
The protests highlighted the absence of any final waste repository anywhere on the globe as more and more waste accumulates – 450 tonnes a year in Germany.
Berthold Friess, a southern regional leader of the BUND environment group, notes that given the annual production of about 450 tonnes of radioactive waste, letting power stations continue for 12 extra years would add 500 CASTORS.
Peter Dickel predicted that many people would take part today “who for various reasons won’t travel to central big events. On route-action-day everyone could show that they reject atomic energy with their own means and in their own ways in their neighbourhoods.”
Andreas Raschke, spokesman for southwest German anti-nuclear groups, says the routes action day served as preparation for the Gorleben consignment, which crosses the border in the southwest.
“The nuclear course of the government is whipping up a storm of fury across the country, shown not only by the recent big demonstrations,” commented the Robin Wood activist group.
“All over the country new initiatives have been formed in recent weeks to stand in the way of this nuclear insanity of the government.
“The atomic waste is carted back and forth and parked in socalled interim storages on the surface. People have understood that this is no solution, so they’re taking personal control of politics.”
An expert in the Gorleben resistance, Wolfgang Kallen, has calculated that one Castor casket contains eight times as much radioactivity as released by the Hiroshima atom bomb, or that seven Castors contain 1.6 times as much radioactivity as released by the Chernobyl meltdown in April 1986, the worst civilian nuclear disaster known.
Contacts:
Gorleben - http://www.bi-luechow-dannenberg.de, Büro: 05841-4684, Fax: -3197,  buero@bi-luechow-dannenberg.de, Wolfgang Ehmke 0170 510 56 06
ROBIN WOOD - Christina Albrecht 0176 / 62 25 63 02; Dirk Seifert 040 / 380 892 21, energie@robinwood.de; Ute Bertrand 040 / 380 892 22, presse@robinwood.de
Berthold Friess - berthold.friess@bund.net
Bernd Ebeling - contrAtom (north route), 0171 / 50 11 762
Heinz Wittmer - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, east route, 0151 / 11 59 36 33
Andreas Raschke - Andreas-Raschke@gmx.de
More information: www.castor-strecken-aktionstag.de includes a map of suggested protest locations along railway lines.
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