Niger coup raises questions about uranium dependence

PARIS: The military coup in Niger raises the question of Europe’s dependency on uranium mined in the West African nation for its nuclear power plants.

France’s nuclear fuel firm Orano, formerly part of Areva, operates a uranium mine in the north of the country, employing some 900 mostly Nigeran staff.

The company said last week that it was monitoring the situation closely but that the seizure of power by the military had not for the moment affected the delivery of uranium supplies.

Niger accounts for only a small percentage of global production of natural uranium.

In 2021, it produced 4.7 per cent of the world’s total, far behind Kazakhstan at 45.2pc, according to Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) that ensures Europe’s supply of nuclear materials. “In 2022, Niger was second largest supplier of natural uranium to the EU, with share of 25.38pc,” ESA told AFP.

“Kazakhstan, Niger, and Canada were the top three countries delivering natural uranium, providing 74.19pc of the total,” it added.

Short-term supply risks

On Tuesday, the European Union claimed the bloc was not at risk of supply problems due to the coup. “EU utilities have sufficient inventories of natural uranium to mitigate any short-term supply risks and for the medium and long term there are enough deposits on the world market to cover the EU needs,” European Com­mission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said.

For France, which operates 56 reactors that provide more than two-thirds of the nation’s electricity, Niger was the number three source during the 2005-20 period, accounting for 19pc of the total, behind Kazakhstan and Australia.

For uranium, Niger “is no longer the strategic partner of Paris as it was in the 1960s or 1970s”, said Alain Antil, head of the Sub-Saharan African centre at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI).

France’s energy transition ministry said the situation in Niger doesn’t pose any risk for natural uranium supplies as EDF, the operator of France’s park of nuclear reactors, has worked to diversify its suppliers, while the foreign ministry said the country’s suppliers were “extremely diversified”.

According to Teva Meyer, a specialist on the civilian nuclear energy sector at the University of Upper Alsace, said EDF has been working on diversifying its suppliers for the past decade, turning to Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbe­kistan, as well as Australia.

Having a diverse supplier base has been a long-time recommendation of ESA.