The train carrying 12 containers of waste reached the town of Lueneburg in northern Germany at around 10:00 am (0900 GMT).

From there, it continued to Dannenberg where it was to be transferred to a low-loader for the short journey by road to the Gorleben storage facility.

Several hundred anti-nuclear and environmentalist demonstrators waited in Lueneburg to protest the shipment, and more have promised disruptive actions between there and Gorleben.

The train arrived up to five hours late after a series of protests Monday and overnight, including one incident where two protesters chained themselves to the track.

Around Germany 13,000 security personnel have been mobilised to protect the convoy. Police said the situation at Gorleben was "calm."

The nuclear waste was treated at a reprocessing centre in northwest France where Germany sends its spent fuel rods as it has no treatment facilities of its own.

Germany is phasing out its nuclear power stations, the process is expected to take up to two more decades.

The shipments regularly spark protests by campaigners, who claim they are dangerous and that the waste will contaminate the water table at Gorleben.

WAR.WIRE