Protest at Germany's Largest Nuke Power Utility

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

GREENPEACE PROTESTS IN ESSEN AT GERMANY'S LARGEST NUCLEAR POWER
UTILITY AGAINST UPCOMING CASTOR TRANSPORT

Essen, 10 March 1998.  At eight o'clock this morning a group of
Greenpeace climbers hung a very large banner on the RWE
(Rheinisch-Westfalischen-Energie-AG) building in Essen.  Its
slogan:  "RWE: Responsible for Castor transports. Against the
will of the people, but at their cost."

Greenpeace is protesting against those who are primarily
responsible for the upcoming transport of six Castor flask from
south German nuclear power plants to the North Rhine-Westfalen
interim storage site at Ahaus, planned for the end of March. 
Greenpeace holds managers of the three power utilities that will
be sending radwaste to Ahaus (Werner Hlubek of RWE, Otto
Majewski of Bayernwerk  and Wilfired Steuer of Neckarwerke
Stuttgart) and the politicians who will allow them to do so,
Angela Merkel (Federal Environment Minister) and Gerhard
Schroeder (Minister-President of Lower Saxony) to be responsible
for the transports.  Greenpeace has also displayed posters
showing Merkel and Schroeder dancing on a hot Castor flask while
the managers look at them from above. The poster bears the
slogan: "We are the smiling [radiating] men of '98 and we will
play with our puppets". [Note: In German, the word for radiate
can also mean smile.]

The largest and most expensive nuclear transport in German
history is expected to go to Ahaus directly through densely
populated cities, communities and the Ruhr Valley at the end of
March.  Altogether it will remove some 60 tonnes of highly
radioactive spent fuel to Ahaus.  It is estimated that about
30,000 police will accompany the train.   While the first Castor
transport to Gorleben in 1995 cost "only" 55 million D-marks,
the second one in 1996 cost 90 million and the third one to
Gorleben in 1997 cost more than 100 million.  It seems probable
that costs will increase again for the transport to Ahaus.

Greenpeace spokesperson Gero Luecking in Essen said, "While
budgets in communities, cities, states and at the federal level
are being cut wherever possible, the cost of a false nuclear
policy is exploding.  Enormous amounts of taxpayers' money are
disappearing down the nuclear transport drain.  The masterminds
of this squandering - and RWE belongs to them- should pay for
every penny themselves so they finally notice how expensive
their nuclear power is."

The operation of nuclear power plants in Germany produces about
450 tonnes of highly active spent fuel annually.  If this waste
were continually being transported to interim storage sites, a
Castor transport would take place nearly once a month.
Greenpeace demands that RWE leave spent fuel in the on-site
cooling ponds of its reactors.  At the latest, when a pool is
full, the reactor should be shut down.

Greenpeace International on the Internet at
http://www.greenpeace.org
Greenpeace Germany website:  http://www.greenpeace.de