The controversy over shipping nuclear waste through Germany erupted again when nearly 10,000 demonstrators blockaded a train carrying the nuclear material. The uprising was in response to the movement of the waste to a interim storage facility in Ahaus, located in the country' s northwest corner near the Dutch border. The government did everything it could with strong-arm tactics to ensure a smooth transport of the six casks of high-level radioactive waste.

Because of an anticipated mass protest in Ahaus, the shipment began six days early, a plan known only by four government officials. Beforehand, tens of thousands of police were called in and occupied the small, conservative city. The demonstrators' campsites set up on the land of sympathetic local farmers, were attacked and forced to close. Townspeople whose backyards fronted the railroad tracks were forced to leave their homes, and fencing was put up to keep people from entering the homes or yards. All trains and busses to the area were halted. Cars without local license plates were denied entry and access. On March 20, getting to Ahaus required walking at least six miles around police barricades.

At first, hundreds, then thousands of police moved in at the beginning of the week. The throngs of demonstrators, mostly from Germany and neighboring Netherlands, funneled in simultaneously. The police avoided the downtown shopping zone but were at every other intersection. They were on every quiet tree-lined side street with their vans, trucks, water cannons and armored personnel carriers parked along quiet tree-lined streets, blocking parking spaces and creating an atmosphere of terror. They held helmets, shields and batons at their sides and tear gas canisters on their belts. Many had guns. They were ready for war.

Throughout the 250-mile odyssey of the casks, there were protests. At the beginning, when three casks left the reactor site by truck at Neckarwesthein in southern Germany, an activist blocked the road with an old station wagon and attached himself to it. Two dozen police finally just picked up the car, demonstrator attached, and moved it to the side of the road.

Further north, Greenpeace activists locked themselves to the rail tracks. The police couldn' t figure out how get them off, so they finally just pulled up the entire section of track and laid down a new one. But as the loaded train neared Ahaus, thousands of people poured out in opposition. Many were camped at X-4, the only unbusted action camp remaining, and actions to blockade the coming train began. There were several attempts to get on the railway tracks around the nuclear waste storage facility. A hesitant group of a few hundred was not sure if they dared to break the police lines. Only a few of them ended up on the rails, soon removed by a few hundred police officers. Police with heavy armor, dogs and even tanks patrolled the area. Water cannons waited for any riot to explode. The huge concrete buildings of the waste storage facility were brightly lit. It seemed the whole area was holding its breath. Every now and then a police helicopter would fly over the area with a big spotlight, keeping the camp from sleeping. Late at night another group of several hundred left the camp and walked through the forest to another piece of rails. The helicopter followed and at the railway crossings big groups of riot police waited. The activists moved over some fields and found themselves on the railway track. They started digging away the soil until they were disrupted by the brutal police. Police began searching the forests for activists. Around 120 people were arrested at this action and were held till the castor train arrived at its destination.

The following morning, a group walked through an industrial area and ended up at a railway crossing guarded by large numbers of Berlin riot police. On the other side of the track the demonstration was visible. After some debate and negotiation the police decided to let the growing group of late-comers cross the rails to join the demo. It was a tactical mistake that resulted in over 200 people sitting down on the rails. Soon they were locked in by the police, who first tried to remove them by force, resulting in some wounded people and a lot of pain holds. After some people were thrown out of the blockade, the police halted and decided on another tactic. They carried people one by one out of the sitdown blockade, handcuffed them with plastic "quick cuffs" and put them in buses for transport. Several riots ensued after activists tried to block the buses transporting the arrested. People tried to get on the rails next to the sitting action; some of them even managed to lock themselves to the rail. They too were arrested and taken away till the train passed.

Suddenly, a truck drove through the police lines and stopped at the demo. It was a stage, and the German punk band Die Toten Hosen began a concert. After a few songs, the police decided it was enough and destroyed the sound system, arrested the truck driver and threw the band off the stage. It took the entire day to remove people from the railway crossing.

After police cleared the area, another group positioned itself at a railway crossing about a kilometer down the tracks. People quickly moved to this area. In an hour or so, the rails were blocked by over 1000 people sitting on them. More and more police arrived, water cannons were brought in and military police arrived in helicopters. It felt like the last big battle to end the war. People waited on hills and fields around the tracks, and slowly the police tried to remove everyone from up and around the rails. Police began throwing protesters off the tracks, while military police hunted for people in the fields. It took the police hours to remove everyone; water cannons proved ineffective against a big group of activists in rain suits on a hill next to the rails. More people locked themselves to the rails; others sabotaged the tracks. It took mechanics from the German railways an hour to repair the rails. When more helicopters with military police arrived (at one moment 10 helicopters hovered over the area), it became evident the train was near. A special police train came but had to wait until the rails were repaired. Some people that had climbed in trees next to the rails were brutally removed; the police just started sawing down the trees with people still in them! When the dark came the fields were covered with police lines, the helicopters hovered low over the area, and train came past while protesters screamed and cried out. It was a very long train with six nuclear waste containers

The following morning many from Ahaus went to join the big demonstration in Munster against the nuclear transports. On the road to Munster, all vehicles that looked like they contained antinuclear activists were stopped and searched. Over 10,000 people were present. The demonstration lasted four hours and included a mass march, speakers, music and performing.

Those who support the concept of moving waste to an "interim" dump without closing the reactors must look to the root of the situation. Simply put, the people of Ahaus, US activists opposed to Mobile Cherynobl and the other resistors around the globe understand that radioactive waste transport to "interim" sites is for the convenience of the nuclear power industry.

Yes, it is possible to move radioactive waste wherever a determined government wants to move it. But it is not possible to move it without creating an untenable reality: It takes a police state to move a radioactive waste cask, and neither Germany nor the US are prepared for the inevitable repercussions.