HAMBURG -- Greenpeace has stepped up protests against the transport of German nuclear waste to the French reprocessing facility at La Hague. Since April 29, activists have been demonstrating in front of the Wuergassen nuclear power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Dangerous nuclear waste is still being transported through Europe because there is no solution to the problem of where to store it. Greenpeace says that PreussenElektra, operator of Wuergassen, is one of those responsible for the nuclear merry-go-round.

In the past few months, a nuclear transport has left Wuergassen for La Hague nearly every week. In a dangerous and expensive process, the volume of nuclear waste is increased many fold, plutonium is produced and the environment is contaminated with radioactivity.

Greenpeace has information that the containers in which the radioactive waste is being stored are defective. It wants all spent fuel elements be put directly into interim storage in the cooling ponds of nuclear power plants to avoid the risk of transport.

On May 10 there was another action at the Wuergassen nuclear power plant. Activists constructed a 10-metre tower on the tracks leading from the power plant and hung a banner with the slogan: "The madness continues: Wuergassen -- La Hague -- Gorleben".

Greenpeace has called on Dr Angela Merkel, the German federal environment minister, to immediately end all transports from German nuclear power plants to France.

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