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Following is a message from our friends in Germany planning protests against the
upcoming shipment of 12 high-level radioactive waste casks to Gorleben. See
below to get a free daily update (in English) on the shipment and related protests,
and get a glimpse of the future for the U.S. if the Bush Administration gets its way...
Michael Mariotte (NIRS)
During early November, the latest transport of highly radioactive nuclear waste is
scheduled to roll into Wendland, a normally peaceful, scenic, rural region of
Northem Germany with storybook houses, small farms, and a mighty river, the Elbe.
The waste is destined for Germany' "temporary" storage facility near Gorleben,
where it will be left in an unprotected shed until a "final" storage is found, if ever.
Nuclear waste is shipped in a special cask, called a "castor", weighing 120 tons.
The castor is an unproven container that has been shown to leak radioactivity. One
castor was even deformed by the tremendous pressures (each castor contains more
radioactivity than that released at Chernobyl or Hiroshima). Moreover, a shock
protection system required by law was recently found to be non-existent -- a
slipshod "fix" is to be accomplished by inserting wooden blocks during unloading!
As if this wasn't enough, the latest transport will consist of TWELVE castors hooked
together! This potential death train -- in violation of legal procedures -- will roll
through densely populated cities all the way from the northwest French coast -- an
easy target for terrorist attacks. In Wendland, the train with its 1,500-ton cargo must
cross many crumbling overpass bridges built in the last century and an embankment
recently weakened by flood waters. The train tracks reach only to Dannenberg,
where each castor must be off-loaded onto special trucks for the final 20-kilometer
trip to Gorleben.
As the train nears Wendland, its enraged citizens will be involved in a massive
protest demonstration. To counter this "threat", it's planned that as many as 30,000
heavily armed riot police from all over Germany will crowd into this small county,
creating police-state conditions. Civilian movements will be restricted, civil rights
violated, and constitutional protections cast aside.
During this deadly transport (lasting about a week) we will try to send out daily e-
mails in English reporting the most significant events. If you would like to receive
these reports without charge, just send a blank e-mail with the word "subscribe" as
the subject, to castordiary@gmx.de EMered Into Record It ! 1-'"
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