By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
Niger’s Arlit Discovery Sets Off Fresh Dispute as Niger Challenges French Orano
Niger’s government has opened legal proceedings against the French nuclear group Orano following the discovery of hundreds of barrels of radioactive material abandoned at an old uranium mining site in the country’s north.
Justice Minister Alio Daouda announced the decision on Tuesday, saying the authorities had identified 400 barrels containing radioactive core samples at a site formerly operated by Orano in the Arlit area.
The facility was part of the extensive uranium operations that France controlled in Niger for decades.
According to Daouda, the materials were left exposed despite court orders directing the company to clear or treat “several million tons of radioactive waste” scattered around old mining zones.
He accused Orano of repeatedly ignoring Nigerien judicial rulings and acting “as though it has the right to compromise the sovereignty and integrity of our
country.”
Measurements carried out on the recovered barrels reportedly showed radiation levels of 7 to 10 microsieverts per hour, far above the normal environmental level of 0.5 microsieverts.
Laboratory tests identified a mixture of bismuth-207 and chromium X, substances that heighten concerns about long-term contamination.
Daouda warned that the newly discovered waste could be only a fraction of a broader environmental threat:
“It is to be feared that other acts, still unknown, could have consequences far beyond what Orano is willing to acknowledge,” he said.
He accused the French company of endangering public health and contributing to an ecological disaster that communities in northern Niger “continue to suffer in the most painful way.”
The State, he said, has now taken steps to pursue compensation for environmental and social damage.
Orano, formerly Areva and majority-owned by the French government, long held a monopoly over Niger’s uranium industry.
That relationship unravelled after the July 26, 2023 military coup, when the new authorities cancelled a number of bilateral agreements with France, including Orano’s mining rights. In response, the company initiated international legal action against Niger, rejecting the cancellation as unlawful.
The latest discovery of radioactive material has deepened tensions between Niamey and the French operator, adding a new chapter to a dispute already shaped by political rupture and competing claims of environmental responsibility.
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