Areva NC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Areva NC, formerly Cogema (Compagnie générale des matières nucléaires) is a French company, created in 1976 from the production division of the French government's CEA (English: Atomic Energy Commission.) It is an industrial group active in all stages of the uranium fuel cycle, including uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and recycling.^[1][2] In 2001, Cogema was merged with Framatome and CEA Industrie to form the larger group Areva; the subsidiary's name was changed to Areva NC in March 2006.^[3][4]

Contents 1 Operations 1.1 Niger 1.1.1 Concessions 1.1.2 2007 conflict with Niger 1.1.3 Long term relations 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Operations

Areva NC is based in France and with its subsidiaries has a presence in more than 30 countries. It employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, with controlling shares still held by the French government.

The COGEMA La Hague site, located on the western tip of the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, reprocesses spent power reactor fuel to recycle reusable energy materials-uranium and plutonium - and to condition the waste into suitable final form.

Areva NC has uranium reserves in Niger, Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan. The last mine operation in France, La Société des Mines de Jouac, closed in 2001 when its reserves ran out. Now the company operates uranium mines only in Niger and Canada. It also conducts exploration, primarily in Canada, Niger and central Asia, to replenish its reserves.

[edit] Niger

[edit] Concessions

Areva NC's Niger operations consist of three concessions near the town of Arlit, runs as joint ventures with (minority) stakeholders from the Nigerian government and smaller foreign investors. Arlit was in fact built in the midst of the Sahara to support these operations, and has a large expatriate population employed by Areva and its subcontractors. These ventures are Somair (Société des Mines de l'Aïr)^[5] which operates an open pit uranium mine, and Cominak (Compagnie Minière d'Akouta).^[6] These two mines accounted for 3,093 metric tonnes of uranium in 2005, almost 10 percent of annual global production and 30% of French consumption and 32% of Niger's exports, but less than 5% of Niger's GDP ^[7]. The increase in the cost of uranium on world markets in 2006 (more than 46% ^[7]) will enable Niger to triple its revenues sourced from Areva ^[7].

[edit] 2007 conflict with Niger

On 25 July 2007, the CEO of Areva-Niger, Dominique Pin, was expelled from Niger (although he was in Paris at the time) on charges of supporting the Second Tuareg Rebellion^[7]. According to Le Canard enchaîné, this move from Seyni Oumarou's government was motivated by negotiations concerning the uranium trade agreement, which was finally renewed on August 1, 2007 ^[7]. Furthermore, Laouel Kader Mahamadou, who had resigned from his functions as secretary general of the Nigerian government to take a consulting job with Areva-Niger, was asked by the Nigerian DGSE to remain in Niger instead of flying to France for an integration workshop until a "clarification of the situation" could be obtained^[8].

The sporatic fighting in the uranium producing north halted Areva's Niger mining operations in late 2007, and expansion plans were only beginning to resume in February of 2008, while the insecurity and uncertainty remained.

Prior to this, Areva also gained a concession in nearby Imouraren, which is hoped to double or triple their production in Niger. In January of 2008, Areva signed a deal to invest over 1 billion euros into it's three operations in Niger, increasing the share of revenues going to the government of Niger by 50 percent.^[9] Areva is also being presured by the opening for the first time of over 100 concessions for uranium mining in Niger, most notably to Canadian and Chinese firms. ^[10]

[edit] Long term relations

Areva has been critcised both in Niger and the west for a neocolonial relationship with the former French colony, having obtained monopoly rights to mine uranium for nearly forty years, while Niger remains (as of 2006) the least developed country in the world.^[11] There has been specualtion that Areva was the primary vehicle (and motivation) for French government involvement in the Nigerien government's poor history of democracy and human rights since the late 1960s.

Areva argues that it is a good steward of the environment and a partner in development with the Nigerien people. The company stesses that most workers it directly employs in Niger are locals, and that the revenue generated by these mines is the single largest foreign exchange source for Niger.^[12] When the population of Niger was exposed to a serious famine in 2005, Areva donated 130,000 euros in June 2005 to the food crisis coordination group of Niger, and 120,000 euros in July in the form of two planes loaded with food and organized by Bernard Kouchner's Réussir NGO. Nigerien critics point out that this aid amounted to 0.05% of Areva's annual profits of 428 million euros. ^[13].

In January 2008, a Swiss human rights group awarded Areva's Niger operations their "2008 Public Eye Global Award" for the "worst company in the world", citing charges of radioactive pollution, poor working conditions, and the deaths of a number of workers.^[14] The Tuareg based rebel group fighting in the Arlit area has echoed these charges. ^[15]

[edit] See also

• Eurodif program
• Marcoule, a site shared by Areva NC and the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) nuclear organization.
• Nuclear power in France
• Second Tuareg Rebellion

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Areva NC, official website