nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Does Europe need Niger’s uranium?

Will the lights go out in Europe if Niger were to prevent France from mining more of its uranium? DW asked experts in Niger and Europe about the energy supply chain in the wake of the coup. Niger’s greatest treasure lies underground: Uranium is the most
important commodity in the Sahel state. But coup plotters have been in
charge for just over a month, fuelling fears that the uranium supply to
global markets is in jeopardy. France, the former colonial power in Niger,
is in a particularly tight spot. Around two-thirds of its electricity comes
from nuclear power plants powered by uranium sourced in Niger. It also
exports electricity to other countries in Europe that have no nuclear
plants of their own.

 Deutsche Welle 4th Sept 2023

https://www.dw.com/en/does-europe-need-nigers-uranium/a-66711717

September 8, 2023 Posted by | Niger, Uranium | Leave a comment

Niger is Far From a Typical Coup

Rather than send troops in response to the coup, France and the U.S. seem to favor a “Rwanda” type solution applied in Mozambique earlier this year, writes Vijay Prashad. Only this time ECOWAS would apply force.

SCHEERPOST, By Vijay Prashad / Peoples Dispatch 20 Aug 23  

In July 26, 2023, Niger’s presidential guard moved against the sitting president—Mohamed Bazoum—and conducted a coup d’état. A brief contest among the various armed forces in the country ended with all the branches agreeing to the removal of Bazoum and the creation of a military junta led by Presidential Guard Commander General Abdourahamane “Omar” Tchiani. This is the fourth country in the Sahel region of Africa to have experienced a coup—the other three being Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali

The new government announced that it would stop allowing France to leech Niger’s uranium (one in three lightbulbs in France is powered by the uranium from the field in Arlit, northern Niger). Tchiani’s government revoked all military cooperation with France, which means that the 1,500 French troops will need to start packing their bags (as they did in both Burkina Faso and Mali).

Meanwhile, there has been no public statement about Airbase 201, the US facility in Agadez, a thousand kilometers from the country’s capital of Niamey. This is the largest drone base in the world and key to US operations across the Sahel. US troops have been told to remain on the base for now and drone flights have been suspended. The coup is certainly against the French presence in Niger, but this anti-French sentiment has not enveloped the US military footprint in the country.

Hours after the coup was stabilized, the main Western states—especially France and the United States—condemned the coup and asked for the reinstatement of Bazoum, who was immediately detained by the new government. But neither France nor the United States appeared to want to lead the response to the coup. Earlier this year, the French and US governments worried about an insurgency in northern Mozambique that impacted the assets of the Total-Exxon natural gas field off the coastline of Cabo Delgado. Rather than send in French and US troops, which would have polarized the population and increased anti-Western sentiment, the French and the United States made a deal for Rwanda to send its troops into Mozambique. Rwandan troops entered the northern province of Mozambique and shut down the insurgency. Both Western powers seem to favor a “Rwanda” type solution to the coup in Niger, but rather than have Rwanda enter Niger the hope was for ECOWAS—the Economic Community of West African States—to send in its force to restore Bazoum.

A day after the coup, ECOWAS condemned the coup. ECOWAS encompasses fifteen West African states, which in the past few years has suspended Burkina Faso and Mali from their ranks because of the coups in that country; Niger was also suspended from ECOWAS a few days after the coup. Formed in 1975 as an economic bloc, the grouping decided—despite no mandate in its original mission—to send in peacekeeping forces in 1990 into the heart of the Liberian Civil War. Since then, ECOWAS has sent its peacekeeping troops to several countries in the region, including Sierra Leone and Gambia. Not long after the coup in Niger, ECOWAS placed an embargo on the country that included suspending its right to basic commercial transactions with its neighbors, freezing Niger’s central bank assets that are held in regional banks, and stopping foreign aid (which comprises forty percent of Niger’s budget).

The most striking statement was that ECOWAS would take “all measures necessary to restore constitutional order.” An August 6 deadline given by ECOWAS expired because the bloc could not agree to send troops across the border. ECOWAS asked for a “standby force” to be assembled and ready to invade Niger. Then, ECOWAS said it would meet on August 12 in Accra, Ghana, to go over its options. That meeting was canceled for “technical reasons.” Mass demonstrations in key ECOWAS countries—such as Nigeria and Senegal—against an ECOWAS military invasion of Niger have confounded their own politicians to support an intervention. It would be naïve to suggest that no intervention is possible. Events are moving very fast, and there is no reason to suspect that ECOWAS will not intervene before August ends.

Coups in the Sahel

When ECOWAS suggested the possibility of an intervention into Niger, the military governments in Burkina Faso and Mali said that this would be a “declaration of war” not only against Niger but also against their countries…………………………………………………………………………….. https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/20/niger-is-far-from-a-typical-coup/

August 21, 2023 Posted by | Niger, Uranium, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US/France Threaten Intervention in Resource-Rich Niger: Fears of War in West Africa

SCHEERPOST, August 8, 2023, By Ben Norton / Geopolitical Economy Report

The US and France have threatened foreign intervention to re-install a pro-Western regime in Niger.

The US and France have threatened intervention to re-install a pro-Western regime in Niger, which produces uranium needed for nuclear energy, has untapped oil reserves, and hosts strategic US drone bases and French troops. This follows coups led by nationalist, anti-colonial military officers in West Africa.

Niger is a major producer of gold and uranium, the latter of which is needed for European nuclear energy. The country has significant oil reserves to which foreign corporations have wanted access. It also hosts large US drone bases.

These Western threats follow coups led by nationalist, anti-colonial military officers in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, whose governments have warned that intervention would be considered an act of war, and could thus set off a regional conflict.

West Africa is rich in natural resources. It is also very strategic for the United States and France.

Almost all of West Africa was colonized by France, which committed brutal atrocities in the region.

Still today, France maintains neocolonial policies, effectively controlling West African economies by forcing them to use the CFA franc as their national currency.

Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla described the CFA franc as “a colonial currency, born of France’s need to foster economic integration among the colonies under its administration, and thus control their resources, economic structures and political systems”.

Paris dictates the monetary policies and even holds much of the foreign exchange reserves of numerous West African nations, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

The CFA franc is a “a barrier to industrialisation and structural transformation” in these countries, explained Sylla, who characterized it as a “neocolonial device that continues to destroy any prospect of economic development in user nations”.

The United States has one of its largest and most important drone bases in Niger: the Air Base 201, which cost $110 million to build, and an additional $20-30 million per year to maintain – in one of the poorest countries on Earth.

Niger is geostrategically important for the Pentagon’s Africa strategy. It is located in the middle of the Sahel, a region with a lot of US and French military activity, where thousands of troops are stationed on a regular basis.

Washington uses its drone bases in Niger, in the heart of the Sahel, to project military dominance in North and West Africa, in coordination with the forces that US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, has deployed across the continent.

If Washington loses its ally in Niger, the new nationalist military government may try to close the foreign military bases and kick out the roughly 1000 US soldiers in the country.

Niger’s historically subordinate relationship with the Western powers has not brought the Nigerien people any prosperity.

The country is a major producer of gold, but more than 40% of Nigeriens live in extreme poverty.

Niger is also one of the world’s largest producers of uranium. This radioactive material is crucial for nuclear energy in Europe, especially in France, where roughly one-third of electricity comes from nuclear power.

Less known is that Niger also has sizeable oil reserves………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Soon after the coup in Niger, there were similar reports that the nationalist military government decided to block exports of uranium and gold to the West.

The prospect of a foreign military intervention in Niger and potentially other West African nations is truly on the table. It is by no means an empty threat…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Anti-colonial nationalists rise to power in West Africa

Some of the nationalist military leaders who have taken power in West Africa are invoking the historical legacy of anti-colonial movements………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Threats of intervention in West Africa

The leaders of the new government in Niger publicly warned that France is plotting military intervention.

Paris is looking “for ways and means to intervene militarily in Niger”, the authorities said, stating that French officials met with the chief of staff of Niger’s national guard “to obtain the necessary political and military authorisation”, The Guardian reported.

The British newspaper described Niger’s toppled president, Bazoum, as “an ally of western powers”.

Along with Paris, the US State Department is actively coordinating with Bazoum and plotting to put its ally back in power.

To give supposed “multilateral” cover to their plans for intervention, the US and France have been working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Reuters reported that ECOWAS and “West African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger’s coup is not overturned”.

The UK-based news outlet emphasized, “Given its uranium and oil riches and pivotal role in the war with Islamist rebels in the Sahel region, Niger has strategic significance for the United States, China, Europe and Russia”.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger, and the country’s southern neighbor Nigeria has begun establishing a de facto blockade……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Niger is a leading producer of uranium, needed for European nuclear energy

One of the principal economic interests that Western powers have in Niger is its uranium.

The anti-poverty organization Oxfam published a report in 2013 detailing how France was making a killing profiting off of the uranium in Niger, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The people of Niger, who are known as Nigeriens (not to be confused with Nigerians from Nigeria), have seen almost no benefits from this uranium extraction.

Oxfam cited a Nigerien activist who noted, “In France, one out of every three light bulbs is lit thanks to Nigerien uranium. In Niger, nearly 90% of the population has no access to electricity. This situation cannot continue”.

“It is incomprehensible that Niger, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer and a strategic supplier for Areva and France, is not taking advantage of the revenue from this extraction and remains one of the poorest countries on the planet”, an Oxfam researcher added.

……………………………………………………………………………………. Since the coup in Niger, both France and EU leadership have insisted they will not be affected, stating that they have enough uranium in their reserves to last a few years.

But if the nationalist government remains in power in Niger and abides by its alleged pledge to cut off uranium exports, Europe could face economic consequences.

This also comes at a complicated moment for Europe, which has pledged to boycott Russian oil exports and reduce imports of Russian gas………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Niger hosts strategic US military bases

In addition to foreign economic designs on West Africa, the US military has a massive footprint on the region – particularly in Niger, where it operates multiple bases.

A 2019 report in PBS noted an increasing US military presence in Africa, revealing that the Pentagon had nearly 800 personnel stationed in Niger. (That figure later rose to roughly 1000.)………………………………………………………………..

General Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of US military forces in Africa, described Niger’s pro-Western government as “a good partner in a very, very bad neighborhood”.

PBS indicated that the US military was creating a base in Agadez, Niger, which “will be the largest installation Air Force personnel have ever built”.

“The U.S. has been operating drone missions out of another base in Niger’s capital since 2013”, the media outlet wrote, adding, “The CIA is also believed to be using another drone base in Northeastern Niger”.

Investigative journalist Nick Turse, reporting in 2023, described this US facility in Niger, Air Base 201, as “the linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa and a key part of America’s wide-ranging intelligence, surveillance, and security efforts in the region”……………………………

What is striking is the neocolonial symbolism of the United States maintaining these high-tech military facilities worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Niger, one of the poorest countries on Earth, where the majority of the population doesn’t even have access to electricity.

Before the July 2023 coup, Washington saw the Nigerien government as a key ally in its attempt to isolate China and Russia.

Antony Blinken took a historic trip to Niger in March, in the first-ever visit by a US secretary of state………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Washington sees the continent as highly strategic in its new cold war against China and Russia.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..The nationalist governments in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali are very unstable, and the threat of Western-sponsored military intervention could destabilize the countries, fueling more coups, and potentially setting off a regional war.

The transparent goal of the United States and France is to re-impose political control over the region, to exploit its plentiful natural resources and geostrategic location…………. more https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/08/us-france-threaten-intervention-in-resource-rich-niger-fears-of-war-in-west-africa/

August 11, 2023 Posted by | Niger, politics international | Leave a comment

Uranium profits in Niger. France is grabbing it all

Meillure Ecole du Senagal 24 April 23

Of the 5504 billion CFA francs (US$ 5504 millions) in annual uranium revenues, Niger earns only 86 billion CFA francs and France quietly takes the 5418 billion CFA francs.


Niger mines 43,000 tonnes a year, selling for 43 million CFA francs a tonne (US$ 64 000) at 43,000 CFA francs a kilo (US$ 64). Niger’s uranium is listed on the stock market, more specifically on the Chicago exchange. A kilo of uranium dioxide sells for 128 million CFA francs(US$ 128 000), not forgetting that on the international market the cost of materials fluctuates.

On the basis of current figures (128 million CFA francs (US$128 000 X 43,000 tonnes = 5504 billion CFA francs (US$ 5504 millions), we realize that out of the 5504 billion CFA francs (US$ 5 504 millions), Niger will only be entitled to 86 billion CFA francs (US$ 86 millions) i.e. a shortfall of 5418 billion CFA francs (US$ 5418 millins) for the country of Niger.

August 10, 2023 Posted by | business and costs, Niger | 1 Comment

Niger’s 20 million tonnes of radioactive waste

Uranium tailings in Niger are blowing in the wind and poisoning the water

By Linda Pentz Gunter

Note: In late July, a military coup ousted Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum. Since then, those who have declared themselves in charge have announced a halt to uranium exports to France. France relies on Niger for around 17% of the uranium that fuels its troubled commercial reactor fleet (with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan the main suppliers). Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European countries have been wrestling with their uncomfortable dependence on Russian-sourced uranium supplies. The Russian mercenary group, Wagner, already has a strong presence in Africa, and one that is now growing.

The grey mountain looms, mirage-like, on the horizon of the uranium mining town of Arlit in Niger. (Picture below is of Kyrgyzstan’s mountain of uranium tailings, not Niger’s – but the same type)

This lethal legacy has been confirmed by the independent French radiological research laboratory — Commission de Recherche et d’Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivité — known in international circles simply as CRIIRAD. The lab, and its director, Bruno Chareyron, have been studying the situation around uranium mines in Niger for years. In 2009 his lab measured the radioactive levels of the wastes at 450,000 Becquerels per kilogram.

In a recent video, CRIIRAD describes the waste pile— mostly radioactive sludges — as “a sword of Damocles hanging over the drinking water supply for more than 100,000 people.” (You can watch the video below, in French with English subtitles. If you understand French, you can also listen to the CRIIRAD podcast episodes on this topic on Spotify.)

Under its subsidiary, Cominak, Orano exploited mines near Arlit for 40 years. Much of the uranium extracted was used as fuel for reactors in France and other countries in the European Union.

As part of the extraction process, radon gas was released into the air along with fine radioactive dusts, inhaled by the uranium mine workers and local residents. Radioactively contaminated materials ended up in workers’ homes, used to fashion furniture and utensils and even as construction materials for the homes themselves. And yet, no effort was made by Orano to contain this waste. Instead, as the Radio France International report says, “it was simply dumped on the ground.”

Some workers who were treated in the local Areva-run hospital were told their illnesses had nothing whatever to do with the uranium mines.

Diners along the Seine, sitting under their Parisian fairy lights, rarely if ever thought about the workers in Arlit who helped turn those lights on, and who suffered all the negative health consequences while enjoying none of the financial gain. Niger remains one of the world’s poorest countries.

Niger is yet another example of colonialism, its people burdened effectively with a radioactive smallpox blanket. It’s a story and a pattern that repeats itself across the world where people of color toil in uranium mines or other foreign-imposed government or corporate methods of exploitation, working to benefit white western customers thousands of miles away.

And it’s an exploitation that could now be prolonged at Orano’s only remaining uranium mine in Niger — Somair. Earlier this year, Orano and the then Niger government signed an agreement to extend operations at Somair until 2040, 11 years longer than its originally projected closure date. That agreement may now be in doubt under the current political uncertainty brought about by the July coup.

Imouraren in northern Niger, with potentially 200,000 tonnes of uranium deposits, is still also potentially within Orano’s sights, although what would become the world’s biggest uranium mine has been on hold for some time, even before the current coup.

Meanwhile, in Arlit, many live without electricity at all. Or even running water. That water, according to Chareyron, has already been contaminated by the 40 years of waste discharges from the mines —chemicals and heavy metals along with radioactive uranium and its daughter products such as radium and polonium— which have migrated into groundwater. Absent other alternatives, local populations are obligated to keep drinking it.

According to the Radio France International report, “Orano’s Niger subsidiary, Cominak, said that it will cover the radioactive mud with a two-metre layer of clay and rocks to contain the radiation.” But, even though it is a necessary first step to prevent further dispersal into the air, the measure will scarcely be an enduring barrier, given the wastes will be dangerous to human health for hundreds of thousands of years. 

But while it is dangerous for Arlit locals to wash their hands in their radioactively contaminated water supply, has Cominak washed its hands of them? In the two years since the mines closed, nothing has happened to safeguard the waste piles. 

Almoustapha Alhacen, a former mine worker who heads the local NGO, Aghir’n Man and collaborates with CRIIRAD, told Chareyron that the reason given for inaction is lack of financing.

In reality, the problem is an even bigger one than miserly corporate inaction. Worldwide, points out Chareyron, authorities have yet to figure out how to confine lethal radioactive waste safely over the longterm. The simple answer is that, when it comes to radioactive waste, no one really knows what to do.

August 8, 2023 Posted by | Niger, Uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Why The Niger Coup Has Sparked Concerns About Nuclear Power

Forbes, Ana Faguy, Forbes Staff, 1 Aug 23

When a coup left Niger’s democratically elected president detained and rebellious soldiers in charge of the West African nation last week, it also sparked concern about how the supply of uranium to European countries, used to fuel nuclear reactors, might be at risk —those fears materialized Monday when the junta reportedly said it was suspending exports if the heavy metal to France, but some European agencies are squashing those concerns and noting there’s enough uranium inventories to last a few years regardless of what happens in Niger.

While Niger only accounts for a small percentage of global production of uranium—about 5% according to the World Nuclear Association—it is a major supplier of uranium for France, which receives some 15% of its uranium supply from the Western African nation, according to Politico and the EU which gets more than 20% of its uranium from Niger, according to the Euratom Supply Agency.

The junta purportedly said it was suspending exports of uranium to France—Niger’s once longtime colonial ruler—immediately, the Financial Times reported Monday.

…………………………………EU officials have also tried to downplay concerns, with European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz noting that EU utilities have sufficient inventories of natural uranium to mitigate short-term supply risks and “for the medium and long term there are enough deposits on the world market to cover the EU needs,” he said to AFP.

………………………………………..

The need for uranium in many European countries could prevent the EU from adopting nuclear sanctions against Russia, Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy expert at the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris, told Politico. Uranium, and nuclear power more generally, is currently not subject to EU sanctions. If the supply of uranium decreases from Niger, then EU countries could look elsewhere to find supply. Meanwhile, Russia is one of the world’s largest uranium exporters, producing some 2,500 tons in 2022, according to the World Nuclear Association.

…………………………..If the militant leaders who took over in the coup—and expressed their dismay for how the Nigerien president has run the country—took Wagner up on his offer, it’s possible that his support could affect the amount of uranium supplied to the EU. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/08/01/why-the-niger-coup-has-sparked-concerns-about-nuclear-power/?sh=253224392738

August 5, 2023 Posted by | Niger, Uranium | Leave a comment

Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent. 

Kenya reiterates stand on nuclear weapons during exhibition

Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019.

Star 16 July 23

In Summary

  • The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons.
  • Hence contributing to peace and security in Africa. 

Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent. 

This was when stakeholders in the Energy sector convened on Saturday to commemorate the 14th Anniversary of the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaty. 

The treaty is called the Treaty of Pelindaba. 

The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons, hence contributing to peace and security in Africa. 

The event took place at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi under the auspices of the Kenyan government. 

Former Prisons Commissioner Wycliffe Ogola, while speaking on behalf of Energy CS Davis Chirchir, reiterated Kenya’s stand against possession of nuclear weapons adding that Kenya recognises the pivotal role the treaty plays in protecting civilians against nuclear weapons. 

Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019. 

“The Act has committed the country to exclusively exclude uses of nuclear technology, recognising the need to meet Kenya’s obligation under various international considerations and criminalised access to nuclear material and radiation sources,” Ogola said.

He called for more forums to allow for the exchange of ideas on how to ensure nuclear weapons and technology are not used in Africa. ………………………. more https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-07-16-kenya-reiterates-stand-on-nuclear-weapons-during-exhibition/

July 17, 2023 Posted by | Kenya, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

French nuclear group Orano (previously Areva) evacuates foreign workers to Niger capital following security threat

NIAMEY, May 12 (Reuters) – French nuclear group Orano has evacuated 18 expatriate workers from a uranium mining site in Arlit, northern Niger, to the capital Niamey on Friday, following a security threat, a spokesperson for the company said in statement to Reuters.

Orano ceased exploiting uranium at the mine in 2021 due to the depletion of reserves, but plans to operate in the country to retrain workers and remediate the mining site for at least a decade.

The spokesperson did not give details about the security threat but said it occurred in a village halfway between the border with Mali and Arlit, which lies some 800 km (500 miles) to the northeast of the capital.

May 13, 2023 Posted by | Niger, safety | Leave a comment

South Korea coming for a slice of Africa’s emerging nuclear power market

As African countries firm up their nuclear power ambitions, South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), a subsidiary of state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation is coming for a share of the continent’s emerging market.…… (Subscribers only) https://www.theafricareport.com/293984/south-korea-coming-for-a-slice-of-africas-emerging-nuclear-power-market/

March 22, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, marketing, South Korea | Leave a comment

China marketing nuclear power to Uganda

Uganda announces plans to start nuclear power generation

Energy minister says preparation ongoing to pave way for 1st nuclear power project

Hamza Kyeyune  |09.03.2023,

KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda announced Thursday it will begin construction of the country’s first nuclear facility, the Buyende Nuclear Power Plant, in partnership with China National Nuclear Corporation that would assist the East African country in developing capabilities for peaceful use of atomic energy.

Currently in Africa, only South Africa has an active nuclear power plant, while Russia’s state-owned energy corporation Rosatom commenced construction of Egypt’s first nuclear facility last year………..

 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/uganda-announces-plans-to-start-nuclear-power-generation/2841543

March 10, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, marketing | Leave a comment

Morocco committed to elimination of nuclear weapons – Envoy speaks at African seminar on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in Pretoria

 05.02.2023 by APA News https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/morocco-committed-to-elimination-of-nuclear-weapons-wmds-envoy/—

Morocco supports “serious, efficient and joint actions” for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) around the world, the kingdom’s top envoy in South Africa has said.Speaking during an African regional seminar on the universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Pretoria, Moroccan ambassador Youssef Amrani said his country is “firmly committed to the total elimination of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction”, noting that the recent resurgence of the nuclear threat was “a challenge that requires serious, efficient and joint actions.” 

“Morocco reaffirms its unwavering support for multilateral initiatives aimed at combating the arms race, promoting the strengthening of disarmament agreements aimed at limiting weapons of mass destruction, as well as promoting the efforts of the international community to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction,” Amrani said.

The ambassador’s comments come against the backdrop of heightened global tensions over the threat of a nuclear war in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ambassador Amrani said Morocco was committed to the complete general and irreversible disarmament, stressing that multilateralism and regional and international cooperation remained the key to providing effective responses to the global threats of proliferation of WMDs.

He stressed that, as a promoter and provider of international peace and security, Morocco is convinced that global peace and stability can only be achieved on the basis of peaceful coexistence, constructive and sincere dialogue on the basis of mutual respect.

He said Morocco considered the existence of WMDs as a permanent threat with devastating risks that have “a continuous impact on the future of the world and future generations.”

He noted that the kingdom remained convinced that nuclear weapons and WMDs do not guarantee effective peace and security at the regional and international levels.

February 6, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

African states meet in South Africa to discuss UN Nuclear Ban Treaty

 https://www.icanw.org/african_states_meet_in_south_africa_to_discuss_un_nuclear_weapon_ban_treaty 30 Jan 23

Representatives from 37 African states have gathered in Pretoria at the African Regional Seminar on the Universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to discuss how to get every African state to sign and ratify the UN nuclear ban treaty as soon as possible.

The two day Seminar, co-hosted by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), ICAN, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, will serve to take stock of the TPNW from a regional perspective and consider the need for further progress towards universalisation of the treaty on the continent.

African countries have been long-time leaders on nuclear disarmament. The continent is a nuclear-weapon-free zone under the Treaty of Pelindaba, and the TPNW enjoys strong support from all the countries in the region. So far 33 African UN member states out of 54 have signed the TPNW and 15 have ratified it.

While opening the Seminar, Deputy Minister of DIRCO, Mr Alvin Botes, highlighted South Africa’s history as one of the few states to start developing and then fully dismantle its nuclear arsenals to being an active supporter of the TPNW. “South Africa’s own experience has shown that neither the possession nor the pursuit of nuclear weapons can enhance international peace and security. The continued retention of nuclear weapons based on the perceived security interests of some states comes at the expense of the rest of humanity.”

He also called on all African states “to sign and ratify the TPNW at the earliest possible opportunity and thus reassert Africa’s leadership in nuclear disarmament and contributing to international peace and security.”

ICAN’s Executive Director Beatrice Fihn also highlighted this leadership during the opening speeches:“African states are rightly proud of the role they played in the TPNW’s negotiation and adoption. Support for the treaty in this region is universal, even if much work remains to be done to bring all states on board as parties,” calling on the 21 states that had not yet done so to sign and ratify the treaty. She also celebrated African civil society for their tireless efforts to raise public awareness of the TPNW and promote its universalisation.

A number of ICAN partner organisations are represented at the meeting, and ICAN campaigners have been delivering presentations about the TPNW’s status, and campaign activities throughout Africa, as well as engaging with representatives of the countries that have yet to sign the treaty to make it a priority.

January 31, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

‘The day the desert wind cried’: French nuclear tests cast long shadow in Libyan Sahara

Middle East Eye, By Samira Elsaidi,  29 January 2023

Between 1960 and 1966, France detonated 17 bombs in the Algerian Sahara. In neighbouring Libya, the deadly effects are felt to this day

“I search for words that do not exist. My father passed away on the day the desert wind cried, and his absence is still there, like a loud mute cry, like a void that words cannot fill.” 

Abed Alfitory is 64-years old now. But he still remembers his father’s death and the events that led to it.

Alfitory is from Fezzan, the largely desert region of southwestern Libya. It is here, deep in the Sahara, that he spent 20 years collecting material for his book Desert Cry, motivated by the loss of his father’s sight in 1960 and his death a few years later.

Speaking to Middle East Eye from his home in al-Zighan, the professor of philosophy at Sabha university told Middle East Eye that his childhood had come at a great cost, that he struggled amidst hard conditions and that he had been haunted by his father’s blindness.

Later, Alfitory discovered what had caused his father’s condition. He learnt, too, that he was not alone.

Many people in Fezzan had been struck down by respiratory diseases and ophthalmia in 1960. The acute eye infection was so prevalent then that it became known as the “year of ophthalmia”.

This was followed by the “year of smallpox”, the “year of the yellow wind” and the “year of gnawing”. The people of the Fezzan began to get cancer in greater numbers. Acid rain fell. The land was afflicted. What had happened? 

Explosions in the Sahara 

On 13 February 1960, France conducted its first nuclear test at Reggane, an oasis town in southern Algeria. The war for the North African country’s independence had been ongoing since 1954 and French President Charles de Gaulle was keen to show the world that France belonged at the top table of military powers.

To that end, the first French atomic bomb, named Gerboise Bleue after the blue of the tricolour flag and a small desert animal in the Sahara, was detonated in the Algerian desert. It released over four times the amount of energy as that of the US bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

A few months later, as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was in France for an official visit, a second French bomb was detonated in the Sahara.

Between 1960 and 1966, four years after Algeria gained its independence, France detonated 17 bombs in the Sahara, including four in the atmosphere near Reggane. Witnesses to the tests described them as the most brutal thing they’d ever seen in their lives.

Four underground explosions in the Algerian Sahara “were not totally contained or confined”, according to a French parliamentary report.

Most famous of these was the Beryl incident, during which nine soldiers and a number of local Tuareg villagers were heavily contaminated by radioactivity.

The impact of France’s nuclear testing programme in Algeria was immediate and has been ongoing.

Following the first explosion in 1960, radioactive fallout landed in newly independent Ghana and in Nigeria, which was in its last days as a British colony.

Secret defence documents cited by Le Parisien in 2014 revealed that much larger areas than had been claimed by the government had been affected.

In fact, contrary to Paris’s assertions, radiation from the first bomb alone had covered a region that ran from Algeria to Libya to Mauritania and on to Mali and Nigeria. The impact even reached as far north as Spain and Italy…………………………………… more https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-libya-algeria-nuclear-tests-still-haunt-desert-cried

January 29, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, PERSONAL STORIES, weapons and war | Leave a comment

France promises to speed up handover of colonial archives and clean up nuclear test sites in Algeria

 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230126-france-promises-to-speed-up-handover-of-colonial-archives-and-clean-up-nuclear-test-sites-in-algeria/ January 26, 2023

France has promised to speed up the handover of its colonial archives to Algeria, and to clean up the sites where it conducted nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert in the 1960s, the ministry of foreign affairs in Algiers has announced.

The announcement was made at the end of a meeting on Wednesday of the 9th session of the Algeria-France political consultations in the Algerian capital. The meeting was chaired by the Secretaries General of the Algerian and French Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Amar Belani and Anne-Marie Descotes, with the participation of representatives from several sectors in each country.

The consultations were in preparation for the upcoming visit of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Paris in May, at the invitation of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

There was no immediate French comment on the Algerian announcement.

According to Algerian officials, France still holds 98 per cent of their country’s archives, which date back to the colonial era which lasted from 1830 to 1962, and inevitably go back to the Ottoman era that preceded it.

Between 1960 and 1966, the French colonial authorities conducted a series of nuclear explosions in the Algerian Sahara, four of which were in the atmosphere and thirteen were underground, according to French officials. Algerian historians and officials insist that the number is greater and that the effects still threaten the health of the regional population and the safety of the environment.

At the end of December, Tebboune called on France to clean up its nuclear waste at the test sites in Tamanrasset and Reggane, and to take care of the victims of the tests in the area.

January 29, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear colonialism? Nuclear country Canada “helps” Ghana to develop nuclear waste disposal facility

Nuclear power ambitions in Ghana receive boost with disposal facilities, ESI Africa By Nomvuyo Tena, Jan 10, 2023

Ghana has joined a pilot project run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the disposal of sealed radioactive sources. The disposal facilities will bring the country closer to its nuclear power ambitions.

The IAEA is providing technological and engineering support for the first of a kind construction and implementation of borehole disposal facilities for radioactive waste. This is part of a pilot project underway in Malaysia and Ghana, funded by Canada……………….

Significant progress in the regulatory framework bring nuclear power closer

Ghana is at an advanced stage of implementing its borehole project, with significant progress having been made in the regulatory authorisation processes. The borehole facility construction is expected to begin as soon as the licensing review process is completed.

“We are implementing the borehole disposal system as a final solution for disused sealed radioactive sources generated in the country,” said Eric Tetteh Glover, head of the Radioactive Waste Management Centre of the Radiation Protection Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. “The successful implementation of the borehole disposal system will provide the country with a licensed disposal facility, and at the same time will further enhance the human and technical capabilities required for the country’s nuclear power programme.”…………………………………….. more https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/smart-technologies/nuclear-power-ambitions-in-ghana-receive-boost-with-disposal-facilities/

January 12, 2023 Posted by | AFRICA, wastes | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »