Niger has threatened to take legal action against France’s Orano after allegedly finding 400 barrels of radioactive waste abandoned near a former uranium site. The Mining Ministry said inspectors discovered about 400 barrels of dangerous radioactive core materials at Madaouela, close to the uranium hub of Arlit, where Orano used to operate. Local measurements reportedly peaked at 10 microsieverts per hour, compared with a normal level of 0.5. Authorities also said tests found harmful substances capable of causing respiratory disorders.
Niger’s justice minister, Alio Daouda, told reporters the company will face legal proceedings for “mass crimes,” including harm to the environment, public health, and national sovereignty. “This illegal dump illustrates Orano’s persistent disregard for Niger and its people since the beginning of uranium mining,” Daouda said, vowing that “Niger will not back down in the defence of its sovereignty.”
Orano, which is 90 % owned by the French state, told Reuters that it “does not hold an operating license for the Madaouela site and has conducted no operations there”.
The allegations are part of the ongoing dispute between Niger and Orano over control of uranium mines. Niger supplied about 15-17% of the uranium used by France for electricity generation when the mines were in full operation. Niger is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium and has the highest-grade ores on the African continent. Before the dispute, Niger’s uranium production accounted for 4.7% of global supply. For Orano specifically, Niger’s mines represented approximately 15% of their global uranium supplies when operating at full capacity. In 2022, Niger provided more than a quarter of the uranium used in the European Union, the second biggest supplier after Kazakhstan, according to Euratom.
In the summer of 2023, a coup d’etat in Niger put in place a military government, which reviewed foreign mining concessions and suspended the granting of new mining licences, ordering an audit of the sector. French military troops were expelled in December 2023 after which relations with France rapidly deteriorated. In 2024, Niger’s military leaders revoked the uranium mining licences of Orano for its Imouraren mine and of Canada’s GoviEx for the Madaouela project and subsequently seized control of the Somaïr mine.
Somaïr, founded in 1968, began operations in 1971 in Arlit, in the Agadez region. Somaïr was a joint stock company under Nigerian law, 63.4% owned by Orano and 36.6% by the Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger (Sopamin). Following months of dispute, Niger formally nationalised Somaïr in June. The military government defended the nationalisation, accusing Orano of extracting 86.3% of uranium output since 1971 despite holding only a 63% stake.
In October, Orano said more than 1,500 tonnes of uranium are stockpiled at the Somaïr mine and that it would seek compensation if the material were seized or sold without authorisation. This stockpile is valued at roughly $270m at current market prices.
Orano had launched arbitration at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of International Disputes (ICSID) in January after Niger’s military government blocked operations at Somaïr.
Following the nationalisation, ICSID issued an interim order in September prohibiting Niger from selling or transferring uranium that had been mined before the military government suspended operations. The ruling leaves unresolved questions about uranium produced after the takeover. If Niamey violates the ruling, Orano would be entitled to seize assets or royalties owed to Niger abroad.
In November, Niger defied the ICSID ruling and transported more than 1,000 tonnes of uranium from the Somair mine. Orano said this was a breach of court rulings, warning that it reserves the right to take “any additional action necessary, including criminal proceedings against third parties, should the material be taken in violation of its offtake entitlement”. It added that “transporting a large quantity of uranium through an unsecured corridor poses significant safety and security risks”.
However, Niger’s military leadership insisted that it was exercising its sovereign rights and announced that it intends to put uranium produced at Somaïr on the international market.
General Abdourahamane Tiani, told state television Tele Sahel that “Niger’s legitimate right to dispose of its natural riches to sell them to whoever wants to buy them, under the rules of the market, in complete independence.”
