A uranium mine in Arlit, Niger, was run for more than 40 years by Orano (formerly Areva), a French multinational with a focus on nuclear energy. Among other things, this uranium was used to fuel the nuclear power plants in France.
However, this operation has produced an increasing amount of radioactive waste over time. According to Bruno Chareyron, a nuclear physics engineer at the laboratory of the Association for the Protection of the Environment who specializes in nuclear risk (Criirad), Cominak, the subsidiary of the multinational in Niger, left this waste in the open.
Mr. Chareyron is working on the situation in Arlit, and according to radio France, he has released a video and a podcast to alert the populace of this city to the dangers they face. Very toxic radioactive heavy metals According to him, the site, which was shut down in 2021, has "20 million tonnes of sludge (radioactive waste)" outside.
"Our analyses at the Criirad laboratory reveal that this waste has a radioactivity level of about 450,000 becquerels per kilogram, making it "long-lived" waste. They have radioactive heavy metals in them, some of which are extremely toxic when consumed or inhaled, according to Mr. Chareyron.
Additionally, the engineer notes that radon, a radioactive gas, is constantly emitted from this waste. Especially considering that the mine is situated in a wind-swept desert region, the gas might travel quite a distance.
The engineer remembers that "dust and radioactive gas are very easily dispersed in the environment.". The contamination "has also passed into groundwater" as a result of this waste's lack of containment, which is "unacceptable," in his opinion.
Cominak's solution was criticized because, in his opinion, given the radioactivity of the waste and how long it would last, the property owners should have contained it. They ought to have placed them "in watertight containers to be subsequently positioned on a site that guarantees very long-term confinement.
Which, regrettably, was absolutely not the case. Cominak muses over it at the moment.
This radioactive waste will be covered by a "layer of sandstone clay, 2 meters thick," according to him. The Criirad is the only one for whom the clay or rock are not "sealed and solid enough to last for hundreds of thousands of years.".
"Houses have been built with radioactive materials" For Mr. Chareyron, they have been exposed to radioactivity for decades at a level above what is naturally occurring. But what about the risks of this waste for the health of the people of Arlit?. In Arlit, radioactive materials have been used to construct homes and contaminated scrap metal has been made available on the market.
People in the population are constantly exposed. Greenpeace attempted to draw a connection between this radioactive waste and the residents of Arlit's health issues in a report released in 2010.
The NGO cited a Cominak environmental impact study to point out that the death rates from "respiratory infections in the town of Arlit (16.19 percent) were twice the average national (8.54 percent). On the side of the Orano subsidiary in Niger, we are unaware of the health risks because, in Cominak's words, "it is very well controlled.".
The existence of "air monitoring stations," according to Cominak, is confirmed. As a result of the fact that we are below the threshold limits, it is crucial for us to closely monitor the effects of our activities.
According to Mahaman Sani Abdoulaye, general manager of the local Orano subsidiary, "It's very well controlled.".
According to Bruno Chareyron, a nuclear physics engineer at the laboratory of the Association for the Protection of the Environment who specializes in nuclear risk (Criirad), Cominak, the subsidiary of the multinational in Niger, left this waste in the open.
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