Responses to reports and articles on Orano in Niger
Since January 2023, several reports have been broadcast or published on Orano's activities in Niger and on the remediation of COMINAK in particular.
For the purposes of transparency and improving understanding, teams from Orano, COMINAK and SOMAÏR organized a press visit to Niger in March 2023.
This was an opportunity to present the engagement and professionalism of the teams from SOMAÏR and COMINAK to 9 journalists from AFP, Le Monde, Les Echos, RFI, ARTE, France24 and their audiences.
Despite this, certain articles and reports deliberately present our activities in a way that causes anxiety with certain making allegations devoid of proof which are harmful to the image of and the work being done by our colleagues and the Nigerien authorities.
To explain the topics addressed and allow people to gain a better understanding of them, answers to the different questions raised are provided below.
What are Orano's activities in Niger?
For over 40 years, Orano, through its subsidiaries, has been responsibly developing (cf. ISO 14001 certification) Niger's uranium potential by mining deposits located in the north-west of the country in the Aïr desert region.
As the leading private source of employment in the country for nearly 40 years, mining activities are an asset of major importance in the economic, social and societal development of the region.
Today, the SOMAÏR mine remains in operation and COMINAK has been undergoing remediation since April 2021. Remediation works at COMINAK are set to continue for at least 12 years and are planned to be completed in 2032.
- 40 years of mining operations
- Nearly 800 employees
- 3 mining sites (COMINAK, SOMAÏR, IMOURAREN)
Is it true that Niger does not benefit in any way from Orano activities?
Since the creation of the mining companies in Niger, the State of Niger has been receiving the direct economic benefits from the mining companies, consisting of the mining royalties, all other taxes and duties, and the dividends. To these direct benefits must be added indirect benefits, including the salaries paid to employees of the mining companies in Niger and local purchases made by these companies, which have contributed to the development of the Agadez region.
Orano has supported the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), of which NIGER is a member country, since its creation in 2003. Accordingly, every year, Orano publishes the amounts of the extractive payments it has made to Niger.
- 85 % of the direct economic benefits from mining companies are received by the State of Niger
- 5 % the share of mining activities (overall) in Niger's GDP
- € 17.4M for the Irhazer project
- More than 14 billion FCFA invested in social projects (health, education, access to water, etc…) over the past 16 last years
What is being done to protect the health of workers?
SOMAÏR and COMINAK take the necessary measures in terms of prevention and protection to ensure their employees are safe and secure.
All employees working in industrial areas are equipped with the appropriate personal protective equipment, including individual dosimeters or dosimeters for monitoring each specific function for those exposed to ionizing radiation.
Employees of SOMAÏR and COMINAK also benefit from annual consultations and medical monitoring free of charge.
Both companies have OHSAS 18001 certification, according to the international standard recognizing effective management of occupational health and safety.OSRA
For post-professional medical monitoring, the Health Observatory for the Agadez region (Observatoire de la Santé de la région d’Agadez – OSRA), set up in 2012 in partnership between the State of Niger, associations of former miners and Nigerien civil society, and the mining companies and the Orano group, provides free monitoring for employees of Nigerien mining companies, as well as for subcontractor personnel falling into category 1 of exposure to ionizing radiation.
Key figures for OSRA since 2021:
- 6,125 consultations
- 2,250 former employees monitored
- € 1.4M allocated since its creation
What is happening to former employees of COMINAK?
COMINAK labor relations commitments
All labor relations measures have been presented to trade union partners and the State of Niger. After 17 months of discussions in a relaxed atmosphere and without any industrial action, the support measures agreed with the Trade Union Organizations go beyond regulatory requirements.
- 87 % have been reclassified
- 5 years of medical cover
- 500M FCFA invested to support entrepreneurship
- 800 employees and subcontractors have received training
- 90 % of labor for the remediation project sourced locally
Housing
Having handed over all of the buildings and living quarters to the State of Niger as stipulated by the agreement signed with the Ministry of Urban Planning, COMINAK is no longer involved in the management of the mining town or in the allocation of the housing located there. COMINAK now has a role of facilitator in the management of this issue.
Is it true that COMINAK is leaving hazardous waste and millions of metric tons of radioactive sludge in the open air in Niger at the risk of having an impact on the health of tens of thousands of people?
The surface storage of mining tailings is nothing new and has always been subject to regular monitoring and inspections in conjunction with the Nigerien authorities.
The tailings are stored in the form of storage pile within a controlled perimeter in the COMINAK industrial area and on an impermeable geological formation and do not have any health impact on the local population.Remediation of the tailings pile
The remediation of the tailings pile is one of the main topics to which COMINAK pays particular attention. A joint study for this worksite was conducted with the State of Niger for 5 years prior to the remediation phase.
The chosen method of remediation by the putting in place of a solid cover is a conventional practice in the mining industry and is one that is used in numerous countries. Orano has used this method in France, in Gabon, and in Canada. Surface storage is also used by numerous mines worldwide, such as in Germany, Portugal, Estonia, and Namibia.
The objectives of the works are to guarantee the stability of the pile by reprofiling it and putting in place radiological protection (health) over the long term.
The remediation of the tailing pile is scheduled to be carried out from 2023 to 2027 and will be subject to inspections by the authorities and the multi-party monitoring committees established.
Environmental monitoring will continue for a renewable period of 5 years after completion of the works.
- 3 meters the thickness of the solid cover
- Objective: 80 % attenuation of radioactivity
- 5-year renewable period for environmental monitoring of the site post-completion of works
Is it true that SOMAÏR and COMINAK are giving radiologically contaminated materials to inhabitants of Arlit ?
Before the 2000s, materials that had no further industrial use (such as scrap) and waste rock from mining may have found their way into the public domain and been reused by local communities (e.g.: as rubble for tracks, construction material for buildings).
In 2010, the Orano group signed a series of agreements with Nigerien community organizations (including the Aghirin’man association chaired by Almoustapha Alhacen) and the local authorities to set up an exhaustive radiological monitoring program for materials and equipment in the streets and public places of the Arlit and Akokan mining villages, known as the 'counter plan'.
The members of the counter plan committee are as follows:
- the mining companies SOMAÏR and COMINAK,
- the local authorities of Arlit/Akokan,
- the Prefecture of Arlit,
- community organizations including the Aghirin'man association (chaired by Almoustapha Alhacen),
- the departmental mining department and the national center for radiation protection (Centre National de Radioprotection – CNRP) which since 2016 has become the Nigerien Regulatory and Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité de Régulation et de Sûreté Nucléaires – ARSN).
Any material or equipment with radiological contamination exceeding the Nigerian standard identified by the counter plan committee is removed and placed under the responsibility of one of the mining companies and then stored on site.
Any removal of material from the SOMAÏR and COMINAK sites is subject to a strict protocol with in particular certification issued by Niger's departmental mining department.
- 5,600 buildings inspected
- 1,135 hours devoted to the counter plan program
- 1 mSv the regulatory limit not to be exceeded
Is it true that the activities of COMINAK and SOMAÏR generate radioactive pollution?
Environmental monitoring
Out of a concern for the health of populations, SOMAÏR and COMINAK conduct regular environmental monitoring of their activities.
- More than 2,600 samples taken per year
- 17 air monitoring stations
COMINAK and SOMAÏR perform radiological monitoring of the air, water, food chain and soil at Arlit and Akokan, and within the footprint of their mining operations (more than 2,600 samples taken every year for Arlit and Akokan). Inspections and sampling are also carried out every year by the Nigerien authorities concerned and the results are presented on a regular basis to the authorities and at public meetings.
For example, 17 air monitoring stations have been set up in the towns of Arlit and Akokan, located in proximity to the mines of SOMAÏR and COMINAK respectively.
Over the past 5 years, the annual incremental dose for the sedentary population of Arlit has never exceeded the regulatory limit if 1 mSv.
These levels of exposure do not pose any danger to the health of populations or the environment.
SOMAÏR is the only ISO 14001-certified mining company in Niger,
a certification which has been held by SOMAÏR since 2002 for environmental management and protection. This certification is subject to regular renewal and monitoring audits carried out by internationally recognized bodies.
Health monitoring
Thanks to the SOMAÏR and the COMINAK hospitals, until they were handed over to the State, the inhabitants of towns in the Arlit benefited from free healthcare.
The total cost of the 2 hospitals is 3 Bn FCFA a year. They provide free medical care not only to employees of COMINAK and SOMAÏR, but also to their families and the local populations. Since COMINAK shut down its production activities, the hospital in Akokan has been handed over to the State of Niger with support over a 5-year period.
- 3 Bn FCFA = annual expenditure of the hospitals in Arlit and Akokan
- 80 % of the medical procedures carried out by hospital in Arlit are for the benefit of the population (excluding employees)
The data and the statistics for the 2 hospitals are transmitted to the Health Department for the Department of Arlit and to the competent Nigerien authorities. This data does not show there to be any new diseases or divergent statistics with regard to other departments in the region. The average life expectancy for former workers is equivalent to that for the population of Niger.