GP Action at Kruemmel Nuclear Power Plant - Germany

[greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org]

GREENPEACE ACTION AT KRUEMMEL NPP
 
Stop nuclear tourism to abroad and to Gorleben!
 
 
Hamburg/Kruemmel, 27 January 1997.  Since six a.m., Greenpeace
activists  have been protesting at the Kruemmel NPP against a
transport of spent  nuclear fuel that was to leave for the
British reprocessing plant at  Sellafield today.
 
A large banner carries the slogan "No nuclear tourism - stop
Castor  transports!"   A two by five meter metal container has
been placed on the  tracks leading from the plant. There are
several Greenpeace activists  inside the container.
 
Two Castor flasks loaded with fuel elements were supposed to
leave Kruemmel  today. In the past, about 230 tonnes of highly
radioactive spent nuclear  fuel were sent to France (La Hague)
for reprocessing and another six tonnes  were sent to Sellafield
from Kruemmel NPP. There are plans to send another  11 tonnes to
La Hague, 112 tonnes to Sellafield and about 142 tonnes to the 
Gorleben interim storage site by 2007.
 
"Shunting nuclear fuel from one place to another is not a
solution. It just  masks the failure of the German Governmentos
disposal concept," said  Greenpeace spokesperson Sven Teske. "
Highly radioactive waste can neither  be transported to Gorleben
nor can it be sent abroad for reprocessing at  great risk and in
violation of existing German law".
 
The tranport of highly active spent nuclear fuel either abroad
for  reprocessing or to Gorleben for interim storage is
ecologically  irresponsible. Greenpeace demands that spent
nuclear fuel remain at NPP in  on-site cooling ponds. At the
latest, when ponds are full, plants must be  shut down. 
Concepts for power generation that donot use nuclear fuel and 
that are economically viable, even increasing the number of
jobs, have been  available for years.
 
Kruemmel NPP is a boiling water reactor with an output of 1316
MW and has  been in operation since 1983.  The Hamburg
Electricity Works (HEW) is one  of the plant operators (50
percent). About 80 percent of HEW power comes  from NPPs; this
includes the Kruemmel, Brunsbuettel, Stade and Brokdorf  nuclear
power plants.
 
For more information, please call:
Sven Teske in Kruemmel    ++49-172-3818-145 
Ruediger Rosenthal    ++49-172-2411263
or Greenpeace nuclear expert Dr. Helmut Hirsch 
++49-40-30618-351/352 Internet:  http://www.greenpeace.de