Gorleben, Germany - Fierce protests accompanied the arrival of a shipment of radioactive waste at a northern German warehouse early Tuesday, one day behind schedule, after thousands of anti-nuclear activists tried to hold up the convoy.

After more than 80 hours stopping and starting by train and truck, 11 containers with spent nuclear fuel from German nuclear power plants arrived at Gorleben in Lower Saxony state just after midnight.

Twice, protesters chained themselves to ingeniously designed concrete weights which had to be cut up, piece by piece, to release cuffs around the protesters' wrists without injuring them.

Gorleben, Germany  - Fierce protests accompanied the arrival of a shipment of radioactive waste at a northern German long term storage site early Tuesday, one day behind schedule as thousands of anti-nuclear activists tried to hold up the transport.

After more than 80 hours by train and truck, 11 containers with spent nuclear fuel from German nuclear power plants arrived at Gorleben in Lower Saxony at 0:17 am (2317 GMT).

Gorleben, Germany - Thousands of protesters held up a truck convoy carrying nuclear waste in Germany Monday, repeatedly invading a 20-kilometre road leading to a secure storage warehouse.

Police said the protests, the biggest since 2001 during the waste transport operations, which take place every few months, were also more violent than usual.

Protesters had tried to undermine a railway, seize a truck and shot signalling flares at a police helicopter.

Gorleben, Germany - Accompanied by a huge police escort, a convoy of trucks was to carry 100 tons of glass-encased nuclear waste Monday 20 kilometres across German countryside to a secure storage warehouse.

On Saturday and Sunday there had been mayhem in the district as violent protesters invaded tracks in a bid to stop a train bringing the waste from La Hague, France. Near the border, three protesters had chained themselves to concrete blocks under a track.

The train reached the railhead in the town of Dannenberg early Monday, 14 hours late, and cranes began carefully shifting the 11 containers onto the trucks.