LEAD: German nuclear train moves again after protester blockades

Nov 27, 2011, 17:05 GMT

Berlin - A train carrying nuclear waste to a storage site in northern Germany began moving again Sunday after police cleared protesters blocking the tracks.

Throughout the day, upwards of 3,000 protesters sat on train tracks to prevent a cargo of 11 tightly sealed containers of treated nuclear fuel from arriving at the storage site.

The train began moving again around 4 pm local time (1500 GMT) after the last of the demonstrators - four people who had chained themselves to a concrete and metal construction on tracks near Lueneburg - were removed.

The waste had originally been scheduled to arrive at a railway terminal near the small town of Gorleben late Saturday.

Protesters want an immediate nuclear power ban. They also believe that an underground radioactive-waste dump which is being built near the interim storage site at Gorleben is an unsafe permanent storage solution.

Germany is legally committed to closing all nuclear power stations by 2022.

Police cordoned off rail lines and placed roadblocks on streets leading towards the last leg of the route to Gorleben, where protests are usually fiercest during the annual shipments. This year's delivery is the last of the series.

The 11 containers were to be loaded onto trucks at the railhead in the town of Dannenberg, then transported to warehouses in Gorleben, a town of fewer than 650 people, located 20 kilometres further east.

Heavy winds, however, could delay the operation. In this scenario, the waste would remain at Dannenberg until the wind drops. Police feared this delay could stoke protests and lead to additional violence.