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France does not need Mali’s uranium despite all conspiracy stories to the contrary

…One more variation on the story that is almost not worth mentioning is the idea that France is fighting in Mali to protect its supply lines to Niger, where Areva currently produces about 3,200 tonnes of uranium every year. Since it would be shipped in the form of yellowcake (U3O8) and not uranium, France needs to move about 4,000 tonnes of material from Niger each year….

…Full containers contain about 19 tonnes of U3O8 concentrate. Shipping 4,000 tonnes would thus require about 210 containers each year. That is not much more than one truck every 2 days….

Pro-nuclear advocate with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. Former submarine Engineer Officer. Founder, Adams Atomic Engines, Inc. Host and producer, The Atomic Show Podcast. Resume available here

Rod Adams · January 24, 2013

http://atomicinsights.com/france-does-not-need-malis-uranium-despite-all-conspiracy-sites-to-the-contrary/

There is a meme circulating on web claiming that France’s intervention in Mali can be traced to a desire to capture the country’s uranium resources. That idea is complete and utter rubbish that can only be believed by people who have done no math and no research to recognize whether such a theory can be supported by facts and logic.

There is a certain set of facts that would lead gullible people to believe the theory that the conflict in Mali has something to do with uranium. It is true that France obtains roughly 80% of its electricity supply from the output of 59 nuclear reactors. It is also true that reactors operate by fissioning uranium. It is also true that nations, especially former colonial powers like France, have a long history of engaging in war over resources. In fact, the notion that resource conflicts underly many of society’s deadliest conflicts is one of the concepts that motivates me to do what I do every day.

However, a curious person who is willing to do a little research and math needs more information before jumping to conclusions about France’s motivations for intervening in Mali. Here is a set of relevant questions that are not hard to answer; those answers determine if the theory holds any water.

• How much uranium does Mali have?
• How much uranium does France need?
• How much would it cost France to buy the material? (Stated another way, how much is Mali’s uranium worth on the open market?)
• Is there an adequate supply of uranium from other sources?
• How much will intervention cost in the short term?

The World Nuclear Association has two relevant web pages, one titled Supply of Uranium and one titled World Uranium Mining. Mali does not appear on either page, indicating that it has neither world leading uranium resources, nor any substantial uranium production.

Digging a little deeper into the sources claiming that uranium is the key to understanding the motives for the Mali conflict, I found a site published by a firm called Consultancy Africa Intelligence that has a page about Mali’s mining industry and natural resources. Buried in the discussion about gold and diamonds, I found the following statement:

Several companies in Mali are currently carrying out uranium exploration in the Falea and Gao regions, where the uranium potential is estimated to be 5,200 tonnes.

Going back to those pages from the World Nuclear Association, I found that the world’s uranium mining industry produced 54,000 tonnes of uranium in 2011 and that the world’s known recoverable resources were 5.3 million tonnes as of the end of 2011. Next to those numbers, a speculative, “potential” resource of 5,200 tonnes is trivial.

More here

November 21, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized