CASTOR Victory!

In April, thirty environmental and anti-nuclear activists travelled from Lancaster and Manchester to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria, to protest against the importation of nuclear spent fuel from Germany. The action was the second of a regular campaign, partly to highlight the dangers of nuclear transportation, and the problematic "nuclear dustbin" role undertaken by BNFL, and also to express solidarity with the many thousands of people who take action against transportation of this CASTOR waste in Germany, at Gorleben and Ahaus.

Police had to cut free people who had locked on to the rail track, and twenty people were arrested. All were later released without charge. One activist commented that the best part of the action was the tremendous local support that they received from people living in the area, who also objected to their surroundings being used as a nuclear dumping ground, and their community being subjected to radioactive waste transported through it.

However, what is even more gratifying, is that these nuclear transports from Germany have now been halted, as a cover-up of radioactive leakages has been exposed. It has been decided that as radioactivity levels are exceeding safety levels many thousands of times, it is too dangerous to continue to transport these CASTOR flasks to Sellafield and La Hague. Which is precisely what we have been arguing for some time.

Info on nuclear waste issues: CND (0161 834 8301)