Niger disputes French firm's uranium move

Niamey, Niger: Niger s military junta is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to a document fr...

Niamey, Niger: Niger's military junta is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to a document from a state partner in the venture seen Friday by AFP.

Orano announced last month it was stopping production as from Thursday owing to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions in the country and financial issues.

Nigerien state company Sopamin is a shareholder with Orano, which holds a majority stake in Somair, the last site which the French group was still operating in the country prior to Thursday.

The French in particular lamented the withdrawal by the junta in June of a permit for one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, Imouraren, and the impossibility of exporting the raw material with Niger's border with Benin closed for what Niamey says are security reasons.

"Despite its status as a co-shareholder, Sopamin was not consulted on this serious decision" to halt production, the company, which has operated for half a century in the country's north, said in a document dated Thursday.