A convoy of trucks carrying atomic waste has arrived at theGorleben storage dump in Germany.
About 20,000 police, mounting one of the biggest peacetime security operations the country has ever seen, lined the 20 km (12 mile) stretch of rural road along the river Elbe, preventing anti-nuclear demonstrators from blocking the route.
Green-clad police up to four deep, backed up by mounted police and with water cannon standing by, prevented a crowd of up to 1,000 protesters from getting onto the road as the six flatbed trucks approached.
Yesterday, police had laboriously cleared the tracks for a train bringing the German waste back from reprocessing in France to complete the rail transit to the Dannenberg railhead.
The final road stretch was the site of massive demonstrations against previous waste transports, before they were banned in 1998 on safety grounds. This is the first since cargoes resumed.
Protesters sat on the lines and some threw stones and flares at police yesterday, prompting day-long scuffles. Water cannon were used at one stage. But the activists failed to stop the train, and a peaceful majority of protesters condemned a violent minority.
Determined activists, including several who chained themselves to the rails with concrete and steel, did achieve a 24-hour delay for the train. The six wagon-sized white casks left France's La Hague processing plant in Normandy on Monday.
Environmental activists say the government's nuclear phase- out plan is too slow and say they hope that by raising the cost of waste shipments they can choke off the reactors sooner.