A new transport of nuclear waste from north German power stations late Tuesday evening started its journey to La Hague in France for reprocessing. Greenpeace said first a container of spent fuel rods left the Brunsbüttel station in Schleswig-Holstein. Shortly before midnight three containers were moved out of the Stade station in Lower Saxony. The two trains were hooked together at Maschen in Lower Saxony, near Hamburg, and left there at 3.40 a.m.. On Wednesday morning the train passed undisturbed through the Münsterland region, where there is a nuclear dump and a strong anti-nuclear movement. A border police spokesman said there were only small protests by about 20 people at Münster and Münster-Hiltrup railway stations. “They held up banners but the train could pass unhindered,” he said.. The train was due to run through the heavily populated Ruhr area Wednesday morning. This is the second shipment from north Germany to La Hague this year. Near the French border another train with nuclear waste from the Neckarwestheim station in south Germany was to be attached also to continue its run on Wednesday. Its three containers with 21 spent fuel rods were due to roll past Karlsruhe to Wörth and end up in Sellafield, northern England for processing. That transport also went off without incident. Police said they saw only a handful of demonstrators. The train is expected on Thursday in La Hague in northwest France.