A third shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste has arrived at an interim storage facility in Ahaus in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia without incident, police said early on Wednesday.
The Castor container was transported about 170 kilometres from the western city of Jülich to Ahaus in the Münsterland region, reaching the site early in the morning, police said in a statement. The convoy had left Jülich on Tuesday evening.
This was the third shipment of this kind, following one in late March and another in late April. There have been no incidents so far. In total, 152 containers are due to be transferred over several months from Jülich to Ahaus.
The waste is being moved in Castor containers, specialized casks designed to shield radiation, with the transports escorted by a large police presence.
Some anti-nuclear activists have held rallies to protest against the shipments.
Police said that on Tuesday night there were four such rallies, two in Jülich and two in Ahaus, with attendance ranging from around 10 to 170 people.
The transports stem from a 2014 order by North Rhine-Westphalia’s nuclear regulator to clear the interim storage facility in Jülich.
