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International Castor Mobilization

Discussion in 'Anarchism and radical activism' started by vAsSiLy77, Oct 25, 2010.

  1. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    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. 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:
    http://www.castor.de/13french.html
    http://www.castor.de/12english.html
    http://de.indymedia.org/2010/10/292664.shtml
     

  2. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: CASTOR - out against nuclear waste moves

    So the countdown is running, a list for the "legal" protests and events on the german side of the border:
    http://www.castor.de/8termine.html

    Rumors that the german army will attend too seems to harden - so don't expect a sunday walk!
     
  3. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: CASTOR - out against nuclear waste moves

    http://www.cinerebelde.org/stop-castor-p-35.html

    Protests against Nuclear Waste Transports in Germany
    Nowhere on earth has the nuclear industry found a safe way to keep waste that will remain dangerous for at least a million years. In Germany politicians decided 30 years ago that a salt deposit near the village of Gorleben in the north of the country should be the permanent repository, and a prefabricated storage hall next door to it the "interim storage". Scientists almost from the outset ruled the salt dome unsafe.
    The 800 people living near Gorleben and several thousand others living in a cluster of villages and small towns in the picturesque farming and forestry area have fought the nuclear plans and the transportation of waste to the storage from the beginning. The recycled waste from German power stations comes from a plutonium plant in northern France in so-called Castor caskets. We have filmed the protests against the tenth such transport to Gorleben in November 2006. You will see how after 30 years the people living near Gorleben and the thousands who join them from all over Germany once a year when the Castor train comes are not tired of revolting against this nuclear madness.

    With many interviews, action images and snapshots, this documentary gives a multi-faceted impression of the unrelenting resistance against the nuclear facilities in Gorleben.

    The promised German nuclear phase-out seems to be becoming a complete farce. The nuclear industry is mounting pressure on the government to let it build more nuclear power plants by touting them as climate savers. The struggle in Gorleben is seen by main stream media and politicians only as a policing problem. In that context the film gives voice and image to the protest’s view.

    The film deals with people who sit down on railway tracks and roads, usually in bitter cold, sometimes brutalised by police. It asks them where they find the courage and the motivation to resist again and again, but also about their fear and their powerlessness when facing an army of up to 20,000 police and the annual militarisation of a whole region.

    But resistance doesn’t need to be as serious as the issue. The first-time appearance of the insurgent clandestine rebel clown army provides a new spontaneous creativity and subversivity within the conflict.

    Produced by Cine Rebelde 2007 DVD 43 Minutes - Special English Voiceover Edition

    Two versions of this film are available:
    - Special English edition - with English voiceover
    - Original German sound track with English, French, Spanish and Italian subtitles.
     
  4. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Because the importance for the non-germun supporters of the stop-castor-actions I hope it's ok. to set up a new topic:

    http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerb ... leben_2010

    Come to Gorleben and join us!
    International guests can APPLY FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to cover traveling expenses. Please send your request with the approximate amount (we try to cover max. 200 Euros) to littleblacknemo-A-riseup.net

    General reception point for international guests will be at the camp in Splietau, close to Dannenberg. It is the same location where the big opening demonstration will take place. e-mail: camp.splietau-A-castor2010.de
    Unless you have contacts elsewhere, we advise you to come here.
    * Contact phone number for international guests at camp Splietau is: published soon (English/German spoken).
    Here you will find several big tents to sleep, as well as a camp ground to set up your own tent. From Splietau you can explore the different forms of protest. Camp organisers at the info point are willing to help you to find your way around.
    A communal kitchen will provide warm food and drink.

    Important: Please bring a sleeping bag and a sleeping mattress or get in touch with your German contacts to organise these for you! We cannot provide sleeping blankets and mattresses!

    Remember: it is likely to become VERY cold, so bring warm, weatherproof clothes.

    Besides Splietau there are a number of other camps where you can stay, some of them connect to a specific form of action. It is usually no problem to find a place to stay during the action days. The info points in Dannenberg and Splietau will help you finding a private accommodation.

    Other camps along the transport route are in:
    * Köhlingen
    * Metzingen
    * Hitzacker (Widersetzen, Castor wegbassen)
    * Splietau (Bürgerinitiative Umweltschutz Lüchow-Dannenberg, Contratom, Endlagerstandorte Braunschweiger Land)
    * Langendorf (German Social Democratic Party -SPD-)
    * between Gusborn and Quickborn (Bäuerliche Notgemeinschaft)
    * Gedelitz (X-tausendmalquer)

    Info points can be found in:
    * Metzingen
    * Hitzacker
    * Dannenberg
    * Splietau
    * Langendorf
    * Laase
    * Gorleben
     
  5. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    A message from the scottish support to the field operators:

    [​IMG]

    Happy Xmess everybody!
     
  6. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    10/28/2010 - Der Spiegel, Online International
    A Green Light for Atomic Power :o
    German Parliament Extends Nuclear Plant Lifespans

    Opponents of nuclear powered suffered a setback in Berlin on Thursday as the federal parliament approved legislation that would effectively repeal Germany's planned withdrawal from atomic power. Now nuclear plants can stay open an average of 12 years longer than originally planned.
    Germany's parliament voted on Thursday to approve the extension of the lifespans on 17 nuclear power plants in the country. Politicians with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) as well as their coalition partners, the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), voted to allow the plants to remain online for an average of an additional 12 years each. Under the law, Germany's last nuclear power plant is now slated to be closed in 2035.
    The German government is now seeking to implement the law without a vote in the Bundesrat, the country's upper legislative chamber, which represents the interests of the country's 16 states.
    Shortly before the decision, opposition politicians conducted a contentious debate in parliament in the hope of scuppering the new law. Jürgen Tritten, the floor whip for the Green Party, accused the government of forcing through the nuclear deal by driving roughshod over the rights of the opposition and described Merkel's party as a "band of bullies." Ten years ago, the Green Party and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), who then governed the country in a coalition under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, agreed to the country's full withdrawal from nuclear power by around 2022. Thursday's vote effectively reverses that legislation.

    Advantages for 'Four Dinosaurs of Energy Supply'
    Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the SPD and a former environment minister, accused the government on Thursday of providing increased nuclear plant lifespans to the country's largest energy utility companies -- including Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall -- in order to push firms that offer eco-friendly electricity out of the market. "You are creating advantages for the four dinosaurs of energy supply," he said.
    Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, a member of Merkel's CDU, countered the criticism by saying: "You are at a dead loss when it comes to energy policy." He said the Greens, SPD and far-left Left Party were scaremongering and merely seeking to gain votes. "They are placing their party interests before the interests of the country," he said. Röttgen also stated that his government's energy plan -- which foresees 80 percent of all electricity coming from clean energy sources by 2050 -- was the most ambitious renewable energy program in the world.

    "That is a revolution," he said.
    On Thursday, around 50 municipally-controlled energy suppliers across Germany began a campaign against the new law. The city-owned facilities, which are part of a growing trend in the country, claim that investments of €6 billion ($8.31 billion) in renewable energy programs are endangered by the extension of the nuclear power plant lifespans because they will cement the market power of atomic plants. The cities said they were investigating the possibility of submitting a legal complaint to the European Commission in Brussels.
    The Green Party, in particular, sought in vain on Thursday to prevent the vote at the last minute. With numerous statements on the floor and 24 petitions for changes to the draft, which must be approved in individual votes, the Greens succeeded in causing significant delays. Green members of parliament also wore black clothing with a small green "X," a symbol of the anti-nuclear opposition movement against the test facility in Gorleben, Germany, where the country's nuclear waste is held in temporary storage.
    Jörg van Essen, a senior party official with the FDP, angered many with his statement that, "it has never done any parliament in history good when a party appeared appeared wearing the same uniform," a statement he made while staring at the Greens. Members of the party were angered by the statement, which they considered to be a comparison to the uniformed Nazi members of parliament during the Weimar Republic era.
    Meanwhile, members of the government accused the Greens of disobeying parliament. "The Greens need to know one thing: The greater the racket they cause, the more damage they do to themselves in terms of how seriously they are taken outside," said Peter Altmaier, a senior member of the CDU.

    High Court Challenge Anticipated
    Left Party floor leader Gregor Gysi accused the government of dividing society with its nuclear legislation. "What will you tell the people when, at some point, a nuclear power plant blows up in our faces?"
    The Greens and the Left Party, as well as the SPD and several German states, have all said they want to obtain an injunction against the legislation in Germany's federal constitutional court if the government, as planned, seeks to implement the law without the Bundesrat's approval. Merkel's coalition government does not have a majority in the states-controlled upper chamber, which must co-determine a large share of legislation in Germany.
    dsl -- with wires
     
  7. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    Again corruption between big business and their government lackeys overrides the will of the people.
     
  8. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    We were raided by the cops again yesterday and lost the "activism" external drive for the computer, so I can't come up with the "timeline" we wrote about the gurmun "nuclear consensus" and the half-hearted nuclear withdrawal, which was always a weak baby from birth on.

    It's quite a bit to read and not quite up to date:
    http://andreasspeck.info/en/node/16

    The previous social-democratic/green government surrendered nearly completely to the energy-industries threats about financial recompensation in case of a true withdrawl and they were already ensnared in factual constraints, which ended up with the first "officially" forbidden castor transports covered up by the green federal enviroment minister jürgen trittin - bit of a bad joke.
    From the very start of the consensus the critics predicted what's happening now - the conservatives and their friends in the economy turn the whole thing around at the first opportunity, using the climate protection as a death beat argument - really a bad show to watch... It's just what this state (and any other) is meant for:
    Profits for the ruling minority, while the people are paying for the shits.

    BTW, yesterdays raid was nearly fun to watch too, three cheers to the local youth brigade for seducing the detection sniffer dog with a bowl of cat foods - the beast nearly refused to accompany it's masters when they left.
    Except for the computers drive and a few draft versions for the anti-integration campaign nothing was confiscated, questions about whereabouts were answered with the big old "I don't know" - I guess there is nothing to worry about... :beers:

    ps: Got a phone-call from the headquarters a moment before, I can fetch (back) yesterdays booty on monday!
     
  9. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    So their big AHHHHAA! became an 'Oh Well Nevermind'? :lmao: Makes good sense the poor dog would rather stay with the kids..
     
  10. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    This is what Reuters is publishing in the west Gobbledigooks:

    German police clash with anti-nuclear activists
    Reuters

    German police tussles with anti-nuclear protestors following demonstration in Splietau near Dannenberg Reuters – Police tussles with demonstrators as they clear an area where anti-nuclear activists dug a hole beside …
    By Annika Breidthardt Annika Breidthardt – Sun Nov 7, 1:33 pm ET

    DANNENBERG, Germany (Reuters) – German police used truncheons and teargas Sunday to clear rail lines as they clashed with anti-nuclear activists trying to disrupt a shipment of nuclear waste heading to a storage dump.

    Thousands of demonstrators engaged some 17,000 police in running battles all day long Sunday and forced the delay of the shipment of 154 metric tons of nuclear waste by more than 10 hours, police said.

    Some 3,000 activists were sitting on the tracks outside Dannenberg Sunday evening, further delaying the convoy. The nuclear waste was not expected to reach its destination, a nuclear dump in Gorleben, until Monday.

    "We're expecting further violence," police spokesman Aachim von Remmenden told ZDF television. "It's unfortunate considering that most of the protesters were peaceful."

    Violence erupted early Sunday when 250 activists tried to damage the track near the waste dump to halt the train. When police tried to stop them, the activists responded using flare guns and a chemical spray that caused eyes to tear up.

    Riot police used truncheons, teargas and water cannon to stop the violent activists, who were part of a larger group of about 4,000 protesters near the town of Leitstade trying to halt the train.

    A small fire was started under an armored police vehicle and it was seen smouldering in images broadcast on German television. Police said activists had poured tar on it and thrown small petrol bombs at and under the vehicle.

    PUBLIC OPPOSITION

    Police repeatedly tried to stop activists from removing gravel under the rail tracks. Some police were pushed and shoved from behind as they tried to carry activists away.

    The helmet-clad police also were seen in broadcast images punching activists and hitting them with truncheons as small fires burned on the tracks and in the surrounding forests.

    "Those who resort to violence against police officials have to expect us to respond accordingly," a police spokeswoman told N-TV television, saying there had been "massive acts of violence against police" Sunday.

    About a dozen protesters were injured, demonstrators were quoted as saying in local media reports.

    The waste shipment has become a tense political issue due to anger over Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to extend the lifespan of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants despite overwhelming public opposition.

    The waste originated in Germany and was reprocessed at the French nuclear group Areva's processing plant at La Hague for storage in a site in the northern German town of Gorleben.

    The train was held up repeatedly on its way across France and Germany on a journey that began Friday. In Germany thousands staged sit-down strikes on tracks and others lowered themselves on ropes from bridges to prevent the train from passing. They were removed by police.

    Merkel's government has slumped in popularity due largely to its decision to extend nuclear power by about 12 years beyond the original shutdown set for 2021. Germany gets 23 percent of its power from nuclear plants.

    Scenes of violence during previous shipments have contributed to Germany's strong anti-nuclear mood.

    Protesters fear the depot at Gorleben, built as an interim storage site, could become permanent. Greenpeace says the site, in a disused salt mine, would be unsafe over the long term.

    :ecouteurs:
     
  11. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    I'm quite a bit tired, must be the cold weather I guess, so I'll do some more reports later, we hoped to get some direct news wires running but... - here's a little something for now:

    http://www.castor.de/3aktuelles.html - english ticker/news wire site
    SUN 8.36 pm - CASTOR railbed hollowed in places
    Reported by Schotterfreundin, Diet Simon
    Despite massive police violence thousands of female and male activists managed to remove ballast stones from the 72-km railway line from Lüneburg to Dannenberg, the end of the rail trip for the CASTORS. When the stone removers withdrew late Sunday afternoon, there were quite a few holes under the rails. A successful day!
    When the first groups began to dig stones out of the railbed near Leitstade, they were ruthlessly attacked by police with everything they’ve got: pepper spray, tear gas, truncheons and water cannons. False claims by police that they were attacked, for example by gas, are disproved by many videos on the Internet, e.g. Spiegel Online and Graswurzel TV.
    Despite the police excesses, people kept on getting onto the rails for brief periods to remove ballast.
    A stretch of track kilometres long was repeatedly accessed by people before they were beaten back. Although activists were injured, they returned to the camps content and feeling victorious. The CASTORS aren’t in Gorleben by a long chalk and the blockades will go on.

    Photos from the general rally on saturday in Splietau - 50 000 people attended
    http://www.publixviewing.de/index.php?c ... &id=76&n=1

    Photos from the tractor-blockade-removal on sunday
    http://www.publixviewing.de/index.php?c ... &id=79&n=1

    Spiegel Online 11/8 article in german with videos and some photos from the railway track
    http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschla ... 93,00.html

    Video Site with lots of videos from the different events since the summer
    http://www.graswurzel.tv/

    p.s. everybody you might know is still fine and out in the fields and forests...
     
  12. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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  13. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 40,00.html
    11/10/2010
    The World from Berlin
    Merkel Has 'Re-Ignited a Culture War' Over Nuclear Power

    Demonstrations against the annual Castor nuclear transport train broke records this year. Green leaders call it a rebuke of Angela Merkel's government, which recently extended the lifespans of German nuclear plants. Have German politics rolled back to the 1980s?
    The so-called Castor transport train carries sealed containers of spent fuel rods almost every year from a nuclear reprocessing plant in La Hague, France, to a deep-earth storage facility in Gorleben, Germany. Camping out to block the train among the farms near Gorleben is a ritual for German environmentalists. This year, starting on Oct. 6 -- in response to the government's recent extension of legal lifespans for German nuclear power plants -- a record-breaking total of some 50,000 demonstrators turned out to wait for the train, which runs on a secret schedule and along an unpublicized route. On Monday and Tuesday the train waited 19 hours, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the facility, before track-sitting demonstrators could be cleared by police.
    A leader of the Green Party's parliamentary group in Berlin, Renate Künast, told German TV that the protests were the "biggest that Gorleben has ever seen." She said protesters had responded to a "political provocation" by Angela Merkel's government, which in October officially changed a cherished Green Party phase-out of the nation's nuclear power plants. The last nuclear facility had been scheduled to go dark around 2020; as of October 28 plants can run for an average of another 12 years. Merkel called the extension a necessary bridge between old and new forms of domestic energy. Her critics call the measure a gift to the nuclear lobby, noting that it would create billions in additional profits for power utility companies.

    The fuel rods originate in Germany, move to France for reprocessing, and return to Gorleben for temporary storage in a former salt mine. Protesters object to the movement of radioactive cargo through the countryside as well as the risk of some future disaster at Gorleben, which is also being researched by the government as a possible "final storage" facility for the highly radioactive, spent fuel rods.
    The German government is also mulling a deal with Russia to move 951 radioactive rods burned in an old East German reactor from a temporary storage site in Ahaus, western Germany, to final storage in Majak, Siberia. The Süddeutsche Zeitung broke the news Tuesday. Those considerations are controversial already because of a risk of accidents in Majak.
    The origin of Germany's Green movement, which has been vigorous enough to place one Green politician (Joschka Fischer) near the summit of power in Berlin, lies in popular demonstrations against the nuclear industry in the 1970s and '80s. The 2000 law capping the lifespans of nuclear plants was considered a triumph of Fischer's career. German papers on Wednesday morning consider the scale of the protests at Gorleben as well as the revival of Green politics under Angela Merkel's increasingly unpopular conservative government.

    The leftist daily Die Tageszeitung writes:
    "With their protests against the Castor train to Gorleben, nuclear power opponents have scored a clear win on points against Merkel's government. The massive show of participation by demonstrators shows that the government's hasty decision to extend nuclear-plant lifespans has led to more political engagement in Germany, rather than resignation ... It's now clear that people from all levels of society took to the streets out of personal conviction against the government's irresponsible policies. The attempt to tar them as violent troublemakers has failed."

    "What's striking is the gap between political talk and behavior -- particularly in Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen's recent push to send highly radioactive waste to Russia. By talking up 'secure final disposal' and 'national responsibility' for nuclear waste, but at the same time hoping to send old fuel rods to a scandal-ridden nuclear complex in Siberia, Röttgen relinquishes his last ounce of public trust."

    "Merkel's government will not reverse its decision about nuclear-facility lifespans just because of the protests near Gorleben. But now the chances have escalated that its own lifespan will be shortened."

    The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argues:
    "In 2005, a government of Greens and Social Democrats in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia resisted the movement of fuel rods from an old East German research reactor in Rossendorf to the temporary site in Ahaus (in North Rhine-Westphalia) … Now the Greens are upset that the waste will be returned to its original owners in Russia. The worry that the fuel rods may not be processed and stored according to German safety standards is not without merit; but it is two-faced. Those who protest the removal of rods from Ahaus are the same people who protest attempts to find a final-storage site (for them) in Germany. If it goes on like this, the demonstrators will manage to ensure that radioactive waste from Germany as well as Russia will find its way to uncertain burial in Siberia."

    The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:
    "Storing nuclear waste is a thankless, dirty business … (But) instead of first establishing criteria for storage site and then finding a site, friends of the Gorleben facility did things the other way around. First they found the site, then they set the rules. First they invested billions, then they looked into possible objections and environmental damage. It would be an unusual way to approach a normal construction project, but in this case the concerns are much loftier: getting rid of waste."

    "Germany, without doubt, needs to solve its nuclear problem at home. And wherever it sites a final storage facility, there will be protests. But the government can persuade only through geological, factual arguments and orderly practice in law -- not arguments about practical constraints and opportunities. The 'Gorleben principle' can no longer hold."

    The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:
    "A collective historical awareness of successful civil disobedience arose in Germany (with the protests in the '70s and '80s). These extra-parliamentary movements made German democracy stronger, not weaker. What many people see as carping, dithering and getting in the way is the best you can hope for in a democratic state -- that citizens should look after their deepest concerns."

    "The only citizens in Germany who refute this collective awareness are politicians from the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Free Democrats (FDP), who form the current government. Without the slightest appreciation or understanding (of history) they have re-ignited a painstakingly resolved culture war over nuclear power. They won't resolve it again, even if they put thousands of pitiable police officers in the street. It's up to the Greens, who may one day find themselves in power again -- as they were in 2000 -- to perform the hard work of negotiating a compromise between nuclear protesters and the nuclear industry, and to find a socially acceptable solution for the storage of nuclear waste."

    -- by Michael Scott Moore


    11/09/2010
    Castor Reaches Destination
    Nuclear Waste Transport Arrives in Gorleben

    A transport of 11 containers carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste arrived at the Gorleben interim depository in Germany on Tuesday after a 92-hour journey -- the longest ever for such a shipment. The protests against the transport are the latest event in a renaissance of the country's anti-nuclear protest movement.
    Germany's fabled anti-nuclear movement, which reached its pinnacle in the 1980s before fading into obscurity earlier this decade, has been making a pronounced comeback following the decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to extend the lifespans of Germany's nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years in October. The latest protest against the government decision took shape this weekend during one of the irregular shipments of nuclear waste from a plant in France, where it is sent for reprocessing, to a temporary storage site at Gorleben in the western German state of Lower Saxony.

    Starting on Friday, thousands of protesters along the route from Kehl, Germany, on the German-French border, right up to the final destination at Gorleben gathered to block the route and disrupt the movement of 11 so-called Castor containers -- the acronym for the casks used for the transport and storage of the radioactive material.
    Eleven transports have been conducted since 1995, and protests against them are a regular fixture in the anti-nuclear energy scene. But no delivery in the past 15 years has been as contested as this week's. The transport that ended on Tuesday morning turned out to be the longest-lasting yet, after the train and trucks carrying the waste were disrupted by thousands of protesters who blocked tracks and roads to the facility.
    After a 92-hour journey, the Castor containers arrived at the Gorleben storage facility on trucks just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The final 20-kilometers (12 miles) of the journey from a transfer station in Dannenberg to Gorleben had been accompanied by a massive police presence and road blocks by protesters along the route. The trucks moved slowly through the villages lining the route which, in the past, has proven the most difficult leg of the journey.

    Massive Protests
    On Tuesday morning, police cleared several thousand protestors blocking the entry to Gorleben, where they had been for 44 hours.
    Opposition to the Castor delivery has been greater than ever this year after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government moved to extend the lifespans of the country's nuclear power plants, which were scheduled to be phased out by the government of then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder by 2022. In addition to the decision to extend plant lifespans, Merkel's government also reversed a 10-year moratorium on research into the controversial Gorleben facility as a possible permanent nuclear waste storage facility. The site, a salt dome, has been highly controversial because core samples taken at Gorleben in the past have revealed moisture, and critics are concerned the tunnels could be flooded in the worst-case scenario, leading to leaks of the deadly radioactive material.
    Leading anti-nuclear activists are celebrating this week's massive, largely violence-free protests against the Castor transport as a success. The scene did get slightly more aggressive on Sunday, however, when police used truncheons and tear gas to clear rail lines.

    'An Expression of What the Majority of People Think'
    "The amount of courage and enthusiasm showed by the number of people who participated in the sit-in blockades was truly remarkable," long-time Gorleben activist and Green Party member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms said after police cleared the blockade in front of the waste storage facility. "The protests are an expression of what the majority of the people think," she said, calling for the German government to reverse its decisions.

    "There needs to be a change in thinking," especially when it comes to Gorleben, which she said is "not the right location" for a final repository for nuclear waste.

    Jochen Stay, spokesman for the German anti-nuclear organization Ausgestrahlt, said he believes the anti-nuclear movement is growing in strength. "The people are leaving with unusually strong motivation," he said in Gorleben. He said it was never a pleasure for protesters to be cleared by police, "but people don't feel frustrated or defeated." Before their clearing by police on Tuesday, Stay said more than 4,000 anti-nuclear protesters had gathered to block the entrance to the facility.

    'The Nuclear Industry Should Pay'
    The costs of securing the Castor transports this year could be staggering. Officials in the state of Lower Saxony believe the police presence and overtime alone will account to €25 million ($34.66 million), but security experts believe the final figure could be double that.
    A spokesman for one of Germany's largest police unions, Rainer Wendt of DPolG, said: "In my opinion, the nuclear industry should pay. They earn billions of euros, but the state coffers are almost empty."
    In the state of Lower Saxony, where Gorleben is located, officials said they alone shouldn't be burdened with the millions in extra expenses. Uwe Schünemann, the state's interior minister and part of Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, said: "It's the chancellor's job to figure out where the money will come from."

    dsl -- with wire reports
     
  14. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    only one week to go - what's da plan?
     
  15. nike

    nike Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    dunno, some people will arrive therez next moon day but as far as i know, no things are really planned, everybody keeps being mean to me and nobody listens... :'(
    maybe if yours start crying too, them have mercy on us and come up with da plan!
    [​IMG]
    almost forgot:
    http://www.castor.de/8termine.html
     
  16. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    stop crying baby - and don't start crying extremist:
    there is no plan right now, except for what could be taken as da plan - and if yours are unable to make a plan for your own... well, the mercy of the polit bureau has to be earned...
    i heard something like somebodys thinks to meet old friends from last years family gathering next week.
    https://www.x-tausendmalquer.de/
    https://www.x-tausendmalquer.de/index.p ... &tx_ttnews[tt_news]=99&cHash=ed5b39a124fcc8cf39b0561b7502ca8d
     
  17. nike

    nike Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    tomorrow is international travel day, there are some arrangements made for accomodations allowing sum 6 or 8 people more -
    [​IMG]
    or whazzit his real life incarnation? :ecouteurs:
     
  18. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    I know the shadow knows, but therez a number of 11 or a full dozen' of shades on the wayz...
    sum speak ulster scots, sum not... but this train is bound fer glory!
    [​IMG]
     
  19. nike

    nike Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    the caravan adapted and preparations were made - so it's until tonight, mr. sexy poet... erm, kind sir!
    [​IMG]
     
  20. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: INTERNATIONAL CASTOR MOBILISATION

    Yours got a sojus rocket? That sets us back...

    Due to the comeback of the Tahir-feeling some instant solidarity actions came up, money was gathered and has to be brought on the way to Cairos, I was asked to help out with the germun necessities and the whole place is brimming with people getting stuff together... so it's tomorrow/or at least wednesday, cheeky chickadee - just in case them foxes don't get yours first for making fun of a humble old man...
    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caTjvIOYxe0&feature=player_detailpage[/video]
     
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