Nuclear Waste Transport In Germany - Timeline

What happened so far...
At noon, the castor train arrived at the Dannenberg where the castor containers need to be loaded on lorries [photos], before they can make their way to the storage space just south of Gorleben. The lorries can either follow a northern route via Quickborn or a southern route via Gusborn to Grippel. From there the transport will drive via Laase and Gorleben, before turning south to the temporary storage facility. [check maps 6 and 7 for details.
An estimate 75 people were arrested since Monday morning, and about 74 tractors were conviscated.

Timeline Monday November 21 to Tuesday November 22:
(all times are German local time, that's one hour ahead of UK time)

At 6:00 the transport reaches the interim storage at Gorleben, moving not faster than 15km/h on the last 20km. It took 2.5 days to bring 12 cstors of nuclear waste from La Hague (France) to the temporary storage facility (Zwischenlager) in Gorleben.

Between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning, thousends of police forces have finally managed to clear a small corridor for the transport ("north route").

4:43: The Castor lorries leave the station - about 7 hours after the loading finished. The take the Northern route (map 5-7) via Quickborn.

4:26Four people are in the trees on both sides of the streets in Grippel.

3:47 The tractor in Grippel on which 9 people were still locked on is moved of the road, after efforts were not only hindered by lock-on and concrete blocks, but also by a 1 cm high kerb. The blockade held for more then 9 hours.

2:07 Grippel: All people have been freed out of the concrete block with 6 people. Two people have been freed out of the second block, but 9 people are still locked on.

People locked on in concrete blocks and tractors.

1:20 A number of people are sitting on trees along the transport route. Police helicopters illuminate the trees to estimate the numbers. The transport lorries might not be allowed to drive through under them because the might drop something on or in front of the lorries.

1:00 Tractor blockade in Grippel still holds
Six and elven people are locked on 2 tractors and beton blocks in Grippel on both the south and norht route. Specialist reinforcement was brought in to get people out of the blocks. The police so far discussed different strategies like lifting the tractor off the road. Currently one side of the tractor is lifted on roles. The police tries to lift the other side on roles as well, even as this endangers the 11 people still locked to it.

People locked on in concrete blocks and tractors

tuesday, 0:20 During an attempt to clear the tractor blockade in Grippel with 11 people locked to it, people are brutally pushed into doorways. An unknown number of people got hurt. Medical and legal teams are in Grippel.

23.59 The latest blockade in Gorleben at the street to Gedelitz and the storage camp has been dispersed and the people moved into the forest.

23:41 The lock-on in Gripple is cleared and the concrete block is moved of the road, but the traktor is still blocking the road.

23:00 There are reports of a blockade at Quickborn, described as a cooperation of "Robin Wood" and farmers of te area.

22:36 At the ongoing tractor blockade at Grippel one activist is still in a lock-on in a block of concret. After several tries to free him, the police has called for spcialist reinforcement which hasn't arrived yet.

22:30 Waiting for the Castor lorries to move...
The officially announced punk concert at Mastenweg is underway, and the police had to allow access to all visitors going there. In front of the storage facility, some 150 people have gaterherd on the street, and the atmosphere is good. Another couple of hundred people are that the infopoint in Gorleben where they get infos, soup and bonfires to warm up. At the Musenpalast in Laase, a village on the transport route, cultural programme is underway. In Quickborn (southern route) Robin Wood activists sit in a tree house.

22:19 Fire in Laase on the street between Dannenberg and Gorleben.

Police try to clear burning blockades by water canons

21:51 The last castor container has been loaded on a lorry.

21:50 Blockades are underway at different locations along the transport route including lock-on's on tractors and hearse, while the castor containers still getting loaded. The temperature is already below freezing point, and call-outs are done for blankets and hot drinks for the protestors.
A punk concert at Mastenweg is underway, after the police allowed people to acccess it.

21:00 The hearse in Grippel is still there and preventing technical staff to go to other lockon blockades. Police decides to cut the car open to try to unlock the people.
There are also still seven people are locked in concrete at a tractor in Grippel. Special police is around and very nervous, trying to isolate the tractor from crowd. The technical staff can't get through because ofther lock-on actions blocking the roads.

21:00 The police knock themselves out...
A professional conflict manager - hired by the police - is knocked out by a cop at the blockaed action in Grippel. According to an eyewitness, the police troops had the order to massively push back the demonstrators, even though the people did not have space to go anywhere because the they were pushed into he direction where a tractor blocked then way. The conflict manager considered this a disproportional decision, and requested that the police would stop this. This was accompied by a gesture that looked insulting. A police agent replied with a direct punch into the face of the conflict manager. The conflict manager and the cop were then pulled back by colleagues behind the police lines where they continued their fight.

19:50 At Gusborn a policeman has hurt a farmer seriously while trying to clear the tractors blockade, kicking into his face with steel improved shoes. The farmer was brought into hospital.

19:20 There are two blockades in Gorleben. One with about 300 people on the road to Laase (west), another one with 400-600 people at the road to Gedelitz/storage faciclity (south). The police is now clearing this blockade, and confiscated a car with a soundsystem.

19:00 So far only 8 of the 12 containers are loaded on to lorries in Dannenberg. About 400 to 600 people are surrounded by police at the outskirts of Gorleben on the road from Laase, the northren transport route. They just got the third order to disperse. (In Germany three orders are necessary before the police can remove the demonstrators.)
On the southern route, the fire in Gusborn has been extinguished, but in Grippel the road is still blocked by a hearse with 3 persons inside. So far the police is calm. Paramedics from the local Red Cross are banned from the location, but they are also not allowed to move their cars.

18:36 At Grippel, 2 tractors are blocking both south and north road, at each of them seven people locked on massive concrete blockes.

18:21 Street is burning in Gusborn and more barricades are built. People put spikes (Kraehenfuesse) on the roads against police cars.

Pictures from Gusborn at 18:30

18.14 Burning barricade at Gusborn. Police very brutal.

18.13 A second hearse with locked on people is blocking the road

17:48 At Grippel, six people are locked on tractors blocking the road.

17:41 Nearly 1000 people are at blockades at four different places around Gorleben at the moment.

17:33 In the village of Langendorf a hearse is blocking the street. Inside the hearse is a block of concrete with a lock-on of several people.

17:21 The sitting blockade of x-thousand in Gorleben is cleared, but noone is arrested, therefore people moving to a new blockade.

15:20 The police caused a street blockade close to Laase (north route) when three police lorries carrying barriers and a police car tried to take a shortcut. In the side street they were met up a herd of cows, and the leading cow jump one of the police cars.

14:30 The third of the 12 Castor containers has been loaded on a lorry. About 400 people are on the street in Quickborn, on the nothern of the two possible roads between Dannenberg and the storage camp just south of Gorleben. About 200 people are on the street in Gorleben, where the police is trying to keep some of the road free.

Picture: Castor is loaded from the train onto a lorry

----------------

12:00 The transport train has reached Dannenberg, the end of the rail tracks, after leaving La Hague in France on Saturday evening.
The castor casks will now be loaded on lorry by a special loading crane (Verladekran). This will take about 6 to 8 hours.

11:45 30 big bales of straw are burning on a street in Harling even though the train has passed already. The smoke can be seen for miles, and the police used water canons to blush it.

Picture: Burning stray at Harlingen.

Picture: Tractors at Harlingen.

11:34The Castor train has reached Hitzacker It is constantly followed by 3 helicopters.

11:04 The transport train has now reached Leitstade station - getting on so slow that it needed 15 minutes to cover about 1 mile (1.8km).

Picture: Castor Transport passing the Göhrde close to Leitstade.

11:00 23 people who were locked to the tracks near the village of Pommoissel (west of Hitzacker) cut loose and arrested. One demonstrator was so badly hurt that he had to be driven off for further treatment.

10:30am People are still blockading the railways at some places. The train has moved about 20km in the last 1 1/2 hours.

10:10am There are now two or three smaller blockades at different places , each about 50 people.

10:00am It is reported that police is using pepper spray against some demonstrators and press people.

9:00am The police dicovered two metal claws "tagged" to the rails, which make a passing of the train impossible and have to be detached by angle grinders.

9.00am About 300 people are on the railway tracks at Hitzacker. Police forces started trying to clear the tracks.

Picture: People block the tracks to Gorleben.

Picture: Protesters and police at railway tracks in the morning.

8.55am The Castor-Transport started slowly in Lüneburg, but had to stop again - while still in the station. Police forces are securing the train with water canons and heavy equipment.