German police use water cannon on nuke activists
Date: 28-Mar-01
Country: GERMANY
Police said they fired after protesters in the north German town of Dannenberg shot flares in the direction of the gathered police ranks.
"The situation has become more grave. Protesters have fired flares on police, including helicopters, there are reports that activists are preparing attacks with vinegar acid and a police car was set on fire," a police spokesman said.
The train is carrying slag from a French plant that reprocesses fuel rods from German reactors. It is the first such shipment since a ban imposed three years ago and it has required one of the biggest peacetime security operations Germany has ever seen to keep the line open.
The train was halted near the town of Dahlenburg about 14 km (nine miles) from Dannenberg after activists damaged a section of track by chaining themselves to the line. The six wagon-sized containers were to be unloaded at Dannenberg and moved 25 km (16 miles) by road to Gorleben on Wednesday.
