Gorleben!

The first week of March saw the biggest ever mobilisation of police in peacetime Germany to force through a shipment of nuclear waste containers to the storage depot at Gorleben, near Hamburg.

Over 30,000 Police were mobilised for the operation which began when 6 storage flasks (Castors) were moved from their base at Neckar Westheim in Southern Germany the previous Friday. Protests happened during the weekend, with 30,000 people marching in Luneburg, and transport links being sabotaged. The transports were moved by train as far as Dannenburg, where they were confronted by nearly 3000 people the night they arrived. Tracks were cut through, and people cemented themselves to the rails, delaying the arrival by over 8 hours.

For the last 15 kilometres to Gorleben by road, the Castors were loaded onto specially reinforced lorries. They were confronted by massive resistance. There were only 2 possible routes, and one of these was made impassable by 50 tractors belonging to local farmers blocking the road, with tunnels dug under the road as well. The other route was lined with Police virtually the whole way, and a new law was passed, making it illegal to go within 50 metres of the road.

At midnight on Monday the Police began moving over 4000 people who were sitting in front of the gates by the Castors, initially picking them up, then hosing them with water cannon, and finally drawing truncheons on them. Some people dangled from trees above the Castors. It took over 8 hours to remove them all. When the Castors were finally ready to move, thousands of people who had been staying in different camps near the route were mobilised, employing various tactics. They were confronted by 1000 Autonome (German anarchist types) in a field outside the village of Quickborn, who erected burning barricades. A full-scale battle ensued, with the German state employing helicopters, water cannon, and armoured cars to force the transports through.

Later, a group of 50 protesters managed to get to the Castors, with one man locking on to the trucks. At one point riot Police who had tried to slash the tyres of tractors blocking the road, were chased away by a crowd of over 100 people, and then had to be rescued by helicopter! Because the route was so heavily policed, the Castors were hardly delayed once they had begun, but the got through at an estimated cost of £53m, and with accusations by opposition MPs of gross mismanagement. It is unlikely that there will be any more transports for 2 years, and with over 60% of Germans opposed to nuclear power, and thousands prepared to take direct action, it is questionable that the authorities will ever be able to repeat such an operation.