The Tuareg are a nomadic people who inhabit the Sahara desert in Northern Africa. Most Tuareg live in Niger or Mali but they do move their herds across national borders in that area. They resisted the French invasion of their territory but lost and signed a treaty in 1917. Fighting continued until 1922 when the Niger became a French Colony. The northern part of Niger is traditional Tuareg territory while the southern part consists of Hausa tribal lands.
Uranium was first discovered in the northern part of Niger in 1957. Further exploration uncovered additional deposits of high-grade uranium ore. The first uranium mine began production in 1971 under the control of Areva, a company owned by the French Government. The city of Arlit was created to serve the mine. Additional mines were opened. Niger became independent of France in 1980. Today, the two main uranium mines in Niger provide about seven percent of the world’s uranium production. Most of the uranium produced in Niger goes to fuel reactors in Europe. Niger is the Saudi Arabia of uranium.
About eight thousand people live in the two cities created by Areva to service the mines. The mine has produced millions of tons of uranium mine tailing which are piled up near the cities and exposed to the weather. The red dust, containing radioactive materials, blows down the streets and coats the buildings.
A Tuareg who created an organization to fight for the rights and health of the Tuareg started working in the mines in 1978. After work, he would go home and play with his children in clothing covered with radioactive dust. The first time that this man heard about radioactivity was in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster was publicized. After that he was giving a paper mask for protection from the radioactive dust in the mine. Eventually, a lung ailment forced him to quit working. Many of the Tuareg have died from mysterious illnesses. The hospitals which are owned by Areva are vague about the causes of the illnesses and death among the Tuareg around the mine. The company claims that there is no proof that people are dying because of work related radioactive exposure but some cases of cancer have been documented by outside physicians. There is evidence that there was a policy at the company hospital of deliberately not telling mine workers that they had cancer.
In 2010, a team from Greenpeace went to Arlit with Geiger counters. They found dangerously high levels of radioactivity in the air, water and dirt that were hundreds of times above the normal level. Radioactive waste from the mines was used as a construction material for buildings and roads. People even used radioactive scrap metal for cooking pots. Well-water is contaminated. The uranium mines are using huge quantities of ground water and the pastures that the Tuareg depend on to feed their herds of cattle are disappearing.
Politically, the Hausa dominate the country and have turbulent relations with the Tuareg in the north. One third of the children in northern Niger are malnourished and many die from diarrhea and pneumonia. Tuareg citizen groups claim that the little money that Areva gives Niger for the uranium stays in the south or even winds up in the pockets of the President and his friends. The north gets nothing in return for the devastation of their lands but radioactivity that will last of thousands of years.
Some Tuareg organizations have been negotiating with Areva for better radiation monitoring, health programs and environment remediation but many are skeptical that much will result from this. Some of the Tuaregs have turned to violent revolution against the government in the south and the French company who profit from the uranium torn from the soil of the Tuareg territories.
Arlit uranium mine from diane.sr.free.fr:
