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French Niger Uranium Mines Under Direct Threat From Tuareg Nomads
Paris (AFP) Jan 31, 2008 Areva, the world's largest nuclear power company, said Thursday it was "nobody's enemy" in Niger following Tuareg rebel threats to attack uranium mines in a battle against the industry. Areva said it "valued the stability of the country (and) ... was vigilant, bearing in mind that we have some one thousand workers. "We are working with the authorities to ensure their safety," a spokesman said. The French goverment Thursday expressing its desire for Areva to carry out its uranium extraction in Niger "in the interest of all Niger's people" after a Tuareg chief threatened to attack the French company's mines and convoys. France-Niger relations "are mainly characterised by Areva's presence which contributes significantly to development of the country and whose activities we would like to see continued in the interest of all Niger's people," said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pascale Andreani. The Tuareg Movement of Nigeriens for Justice (MNJ) told the French news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur in an article published Thursday that the movement would step up its attacks. "We are going to attack the uranium mines, including those of Areva, to stop factories functioning, prevent the exploitation of new quarries, and seize the cargo that is en route to the sea," MNJ leader Rhissa Ag Boula said. "You can't exploit uranium without us," he added. Niger, on the edge of the Sahara, is the world's third largest producer of uranium whose price has soared recently, while Areva is the company's top private employer and has operated two mines there for the past 40 years. The stakes are particularly high for former colonial power France: three-quarters of the nuclear-powered electricity produced by its state-run company EDF uses uranium imported from Niger. In April last year, MNJ rebels attacked Areva's biggest uranium project in Niger, demanding better application of the economic aspects of 1995 peace agreements that ended a first Tuareg rebellion. The MNJ says peace will not return to the north of Niger without better integration of Tuaregs into the army, paramilitary corps and the local mining sector. Since February 2007 it has carried out attacks on military targets in the area. The MNJ leader Rhissa Ag Boula said this new phase of the Tuareg rebellion would soon see the rebels occupy a dozen urban centres in the uranium-rich north, such as Agadez, Arlit, Iferouane, and In Gall. President Mamadou Tandja, who refuses to negotiate with the MNJ, in November extended by three months a state of emergency that has reinforced the army's powers in the conflict zone. The Tuaregs are a grouping of nomadic tribes who have roamed the Sahara for centuries before the countries of the region gained independence from colonial powers. Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
UN team goes inside Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 31, 2008UN experts on Thursday went for the first time inside a reactor at the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan since it was shut down last year by an earthquake. |
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