uranium, a resource at the heart of the junta’s demands

2023-07-31 17:41:00

At the heart of the military putsch that took place last Wednesday in Niger, ousting President-elect Bazoum, is the question of the country’s resources, and in particular that of uranium. Supported by part of the population, the putschist soldiers close to the Russian Wagner militia intend to suppress what they consider to be France’s neo-colonial takeover of Niamey. In reality, from an economic point of view, few French companies are present in Niger. But an industrial group crystallizes the tensions, with the presence of Orano (ex-Areva) which still operates a uranium mine there in the north.

Niger is indeed one of the main producers of uranium. In 2021, the country weighed 4.7% of natural world production far behind Kazakhstan (45.2%), according to the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA). It has been more than ten years since Niger announced gradually wanting to regain control of its destiny economically, thanks to new mining and oil resources.

At the same time, Niger is one of the poorest countries on the planet. He is also minstigated by attacks from groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

In 2022, « Niger was the second largest supplier of natural uranium to the EU, with a share of 25.38%” contributing to the manufacture of fuel for some 103 reactors in operation in 13 EU member countries, half of which are in France (56 reactors), Euratom told AFP on Monday. In total, Kazakhstan, Niger and Canada supplied 74.19% of the EU’s natural uranium, according to the ESA.

Over the period 2005-2020, Niger was the third supplier of natural uranium to France, contributing 19% of its supplies, behind Kazakhstan and Australia and ahead of Uzbekistan, according to data from the Euratom technical committee. .

The dependence of France in question

For this mineral, Niger “is no longer the strategic partner of Paris as it was in the 1960s-70s”, commented to AFP Alain Antil, director of the sub-Saharan Africa center at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

Orano employs some 900 employees in the country – mainly local staff – said Thursday to follow the situation very closely, but wanted to be reassuring.

“The current crisis has no short-term impact on Orano’s delivery capacity to France and its international customers”the group’s management told AFP on Monday, putting its dependence on Niger into perspective. “thanks to production and projects in development on (…) four continents”.

This weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron assured that Paris “would not tolerate any attack against France and its interests” in this country, shaken by political instability.

“The situation in Niger does not present any risk to the security of France’s supply of natural uranium”, For its part, the Ministry of Energy Transition told AFP, specifying that the French nuclear operator EDF had endeavored to diversify its sources of supply.

On their side,nigerian soldiers on Monday accused France of “wanting to intervene militarily”the day after a summit of Niger’s West African neighbors threatening to use the « force » if he was not reinstated by Sunday.

On Twitter Monday, July 31, several foreign sources indicate that the coup forces have banned the export of uranium and gold to France.

The EU seeks to diversify its resources

The diversification of nuclear materials is one of the recurrent and long-standing recommendations of the Euratom Supply Agency.

“The political and economic events of 2021 and the beginning of 2022”, with in particular the war in Ukraine led by Russia”, major player in uranium, have in fact “highlighted the relevance and urgency of ESA’s recommendations”underlined the European agency in its 2021 report of August 2022.

” Generally “ in the EU, deliveries of natural uranium “are well diversified, but a number of utilities purchase their uranium from a single supplier”according to this report.

To be usable in a reactor, natural uranium must indeed be purified, converted and enriched. “We have three years of enriched fuel on our territory (in France) so there is no supply risk”points out Nicolas Goldberg, energy expert at Colombus Consulting.

(With AFP)