Overview
- Officials confirmed late Wednesday that the fourth Castor cask from the former Jülich research reactor arrived at the interim storage in Ahaus without incident.
- The load moved in a convoy of dozens of vehicles over roughly 170 kilometers that took about four hours and was protected by roughly 1,000 police officers with temporary autobahn closures.
- The shipments carry about 288,000 tennis-ball-sized fuel pebbles in total; each Castor can hold up to 1,900 pebbles, a loaded cask weighs about 27 tonnes and a truck with a full cask about 130 tonnes, and the pebbles remain radioactive and hazardous outside certified containment.
- Small protests and vigils occurred at several points on the route, with police reporting about 12 people in Jülich and 38 in Ahaus, and the transfers have proceeded after prior court rulings that allowed the moves to go ahead.
- With 148 of the planned 152 Castor containers still to be moved, authorities say similar undisclosed, night-time convoys will continue and the large-scale operation will remain under close public and legal scrutiny.