French uranium interests in Niger under scrutiny
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00:00 Once known as Areva, Orano has been mining uranium in Niger to power French nuclear plants for over 50 years.
00:08 From 2005 to 2020, Niger ranked as the third largest source of natural uranium for France, providing 19% of its supply.
00:17 Yet some in civil society want Orano's permit revoked for their upcoming uranium project, the Imouarine mine.
00:24 They argue the permit is no longer valid. Orano disagrees.
00:28 The permit is unlawfully held by Orano. In 2009, Areva obtained this mining permit through a mining agreement,
00:36 under which they had an obligation to produce results, meaning to start operations within three years.
00:42 The project's on hold because of low uranium prices the French company found operating costs too high.
00:50 But tensions between Orano and civil society have deeper roots than just Imouarine.
00:55 In 2021, the Cominac mine and Orano subsidiary in Arlits shut down.
01:00 Two years later, the workers' union filed a lawsuit claiming that post-dismissal support wasn't provided as promised.
01:07 The Cominac management denies these claims. Yet the union believes Orano cannot exit Niger without some explaining to do.
01:15 Orano has a lot of interests here. I don't think they want to leave.
01:19 Even if Orano stops today, there's Cominac here.
01:22 In any case, Cominac has commitments. They must restore the site they've mined for 49 years to its original state.
01:29 Amid the ongoing political crisis, Orano's oil processing operations in Niger took a major hit.
01:36 However, when we reached out to the group, they stated not to be affected by the current events.
01:42 The current events in Niger have no impact on Orano's ability to fulfil its contracts with international clients.
01:48 SOMAR and Cominac's management responds to requests and inspections from the supervising ministry representatives.
01:55 Meanwhile, the military authorities in Niamey have not questioned the presence of the French company on Niger's soil.