Publication Laka-library:
Left in the dust: Areva’s radioactive legacy in the desert towns of Niger

AuthorGreenpeace Int., Andrea A.Dixon
5-24-0-00-05.pdf
DateApril 2010
Classification 5.24.0.00/05 (NIGER)
Front

From the publication:

Executive summary
Nuclear energy giant AREVA is attempting a new
nuclear revolution. The company has activities in over
100 countries throughout the world and aggressively
pushes nuclear energy in new markets. Its public
relations teams have been working overtime to
convince governments, investors and the general
public - hungry for clean energy - that nuclear
energy is now a safe, clean, and ’green’ technology.
The devastating effects caused by this alarming
misconception are already being felt.
Generating nuclear energy requires fuel that is acquired
through the destructive and deadly activity of uranium
mining. Uranium mining can have catastrophic effects
on nearby communities and the environment for
thousands of years to come. There are few places
where these harmful effects are felt more distinctly than
Niger, Africa.
A landlocked-Saharan country in West Africa, Niger
has the lowest human development index on the
planet. Arid desert, scarce arable land and intense
poverty are hugely problematic - unemployment,
minimal education, illiteracy, poor infrastructure and
political instability are rife. However, Niger is rich in
mineral resources - like uranium.
AREVA established its mining efforts in northern Niger
40 years ago, creating what should have been an
economic rescue for a depressed nation. Yet, AREVA’s
operations have been largely destructive. There are
great clouds of dust, caused by detonations and
drilling in the mines; mountains of industrial waste
and sludge sit in huge piles, exposed to the open air;

and the shifting of millions of tonnes of earth and rock
could corrupt the groundwater source, which is quickly
disappearing due to industrial overuse.
AREVA’s negligent mismanagement of the extraction
process can cause radioactive substances to be
released into the air, seep into the groundwater and
contaminate the soil around the mining towns of Arlit
and Akokan, all of which permanently damages the
environmental ecosystem and can create a multitude
of health problems for the local population.
Exposure to radioactivity can cause respiratory
problems, birth defects, leukaemia and cancer, to
name just a few health impacts. Disease and poor
health abound in this region, and death rates linked to
respiratory problems are twice that of the rest of the
country3. Yet AREVA has failed to take responsibility for
any impacts. In fact, its company-controlled hospitals
have been accused of misdiagnosing cases of cancer
as HIV4. It claims there has never been a case of
cancer attributable to mining in 40 years5—what it
doesn’t say is that the local hospitals do not staff
any occupational doctors, making it impossible for
someone to be diagnosed with a work-related illness.
The governmental agency in place to monitor
or control AREVA’s actions is understaffed and
underfunded6. For years, NGOs and international
agencies have attempted to test and assess the
dangerous levels of radiation that Niger is being
exposed to. A comprehensive, independent
assessment of the uranium mining impacts has never
taken place.