Around 1,500 demonstrators, including farmers with tractors, blocked roads as authorities loaded the cargo on lorries for the 20-kilometre (12-mile) trip to a storage facility in Gorleben, northern Germany.

By Monday evening, seven of the 11 containers had been transferred from the train. Authorities initially said they hoped to have the operation completed by around midnight (2300 GMT), but three hours later there was still no news.

Police were expected to clear the approach roads to Gorleben, a temporary storage site, before the convoy of lorries departed.

After a dramatic day of cat-and-mouse on Sunday, during which some protesters fought pitched battles with baton-wielding police, the nuclear train finally crawled into Dannenberg early Monday under heavy security.

Shipments of radioactive waste to Gorleben regularly attract protests, but this year they have been particularly strong, fired up by fury at Chancellor Angela Merkel's aim to postpone when Germany abandons nuclear power.

Activists hailed the frequent stoppages as a success for their cause. "Practically everything got delayed ... in the end, it was about sending a signal," one female protester told AFP.

"Not only is the shipment blocked, so are the government's plans," said Luise Neumann-Cosel, a spokeswoman for protest group X-Tausendmalquer.

"We are sending out a signal to the government that we cannot be ignored."

During the 67-hour journey from France, the activists did everything in their power to delay the train, including sit-ins on the line, removing stones supporting the tracks and abseiling from bridges into the train's path.

Protest group Castor Schottern said two demonstrators were seriously injured in clashes with police on Sunday. Twenty-nine had head cuts, three people had concussion and there were 16 broken fingers, it said.

The group said its supporters had suffered around 1,000 injuries in all, mainly to the eyes as police deployed pepper spray and tear gas.

Around 20,000 police were mobilised for this shipment, the 12th, the head of the DPolG police union Rainer Wendt said. The police operation has cost around 50 million euros (70 million dollars), authorities said.

The GdP, another police union, said that officers had used up their "final resources" dealing with the protests so far.

As if police didn't have enough to contend with, around 2,000 sheep and 50 goats were let loose onto one of the roads leading up to Gorleben, according to a spokeswoman for activist group Citizens' Initiative Luechow-Dannenberg.

"The animals just wanted to join in a bit," she said.

Germany, in common with other European countries, has no permanent storage site for radioactive waste. The European Commission last week moved to press member states to solve the problem.

Gorleben, a former salt mine, is one of two main "intermediary" storage sites for highly radioactive nuclear materials, and government experts are continuing to assess whether it is suitable as a permanent site.

Merkel wants to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 reactors by up to 14 years beyond a scheduled shutdown of around 2020 as a "bridge" until renewable sources like solar and wind power produce more electricity.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin in September against the extension, and protesters have warned of more to come.

Sigmar Gabriel, head of the opposition Social Democrats, said the government had re-opened a "big conflict in society."

burs/bm/avz

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News