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4 Pages Areva in Africa.Pub What our organisations demand from Areva: In view of Areva being a majority state-owned corporation, we put forward the following demands: AREVA in Africa ♦ an immediate suspension of all mining projects until an independent environmental and health assessment, 107, Bd de Magenta 9 rue Dumenge responsible to both the host state and the population affected, is made of all of Areva's operations; we should expect that 75 010 PARIS 69317 LYON Cedex 04 survie.org sortirdunucleaire.org Areva would conform to French regulations on the impacts of mining. 01 44 61 03 25 04 78 28 29 22 [email protected] The hidden face of [email protected] ♦ payment of taxes or contributions by Areva to host states, entrusted to an independent management structure that will ensure rehabilitation of sites after extraction, and cleanup of operating sites and their surroundings (this should include containment of tailings and radioactive waste, collection of waste and contaminated scrap metal, securing of safe French nuclear power water for local population, etc.) ♦ respect the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People , particularly on the need for the close involvement of local people in decisions related to management of water resources and use of land. "In France, we don’t have oil, but we do have nuclear power." ♦ set up a fund for all ex-miners and people living close to the mines, in addition to provision of a complete medical For 40 years, France has justified its nuclear This logic underpins the French policy of uranium examination, a retrospective assessment of radioactive doses incurred, a long-term health monitoring system conducted power industry by claiming it brings the country “energy extraction, and the behaviour of Areva, the major French by independent medical organizations, and the compensation for damage suffered. independence” . Yet, even before the closure of the last company involved (formerly Cogema). Areva ran uranium uranium mine on French soil in 2001, the fuel for French mines in Gabon and continues to do so in Niger and other nuclear plants was largely imported. Now all of it is African countries. Its interests were and are still protected e French institutions: imported. Although uranium now comes by the Africa unit at the Elysée (presidency) hat Survie demands from th from different countries, African uranium which sponsors coups and gives strong W has always been indispensable for running support to dictatorial "friends of France". French nuclear power plants. There regimes were and are more ♦ Put an end to the various military, diplomatic and ♦ Urgently introduce binding legislation on fiscal sympathetic to French economic interests financial support mechanisms used by France to transparency, forcing multinationals to issue country by than concerned about feeding their own support dictatorships and other authoritarian or country accounts for their activities in each jurisdiction How then can France speak about energy people. corrupt regimes. For decades they have been complicit where they operate. independence? It’s simple. French leaders in France’s extraction of strategic resources. consider that the former French colonies France’s so-called "energy independence " continue to belong to France. And the price came at a great price: Energy ♦ Urgently introduce binding legislation on the ♦ Strengthen the struggle against corruption, for example environmental and social responsibility of French by the elimination of bank secrecy and tax havens, and France pays for uranium is so low that it "independence " for some, energy poverty companies, by extending their legal responsibility to their through ensuring the automatic transmission of tax almost fails to show in the official figures. and misery and the loss of sovereignty for foreign subsidiaries. and, by leading by example, pressure information between jurisdictions. millions of African people. the EU and other countries to do the same. The nuclear euphoria downgraded Join the campaign to stop Areva making its own rules in Niger From 2006 uranium prices began to explode as a As usual, the countries in which Areva is invested This campaign is an alliance of a number of organisations which challenge Areva, France, the European Union result of speculation. Areva responded by expanding its receive few financial benefits, showing that the and the international community to face their respective responsibilities. It campaigns against the disastrous mining investments, especially in Africa. With the help of promise of economic development based on uranium consequences of French energy choices in Europe, and supports those in Niger who pay the price. official and informal networks the company purchased new mining by a foreign company is an illusion. This is a network for solidarity and action. The alliance works with those affected and supports them in their fight [email protected] companies and won new contracts – some with secret for the recognition of their rights, dignity and fundamental liberties. areva.niger.free.fr clauses – in the Central African Republic, Niger, the In the case of Areva, the responsibility rests upon the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa and French state, its main shareholder. The government now Namibia. wants to sell Areva’s mining division, the most profitable part of the company. Once privatised, the company will be Join Sortir du nucléaire ! Since 1997, the network Sortir du nucléaire (Get out of nuclear power) represents a majority position in public opinion: France The price has since tumbled and Areva’s profits have been driven even more by the profit motive and speculation. It must abandon nuclear energy and start promoting energy revised downwards since the end of the boom. Extensive will answer only to the interests of private shareholders. efficiency and renewable energy sources. mining plans are now frozen, until they become profitable This is another reason for ending French uranium mining Our role is to bring together all those wishing to see a nuclear phase-out. Our charter aims at achieving concrete again. in Africa. results. More than 900 groups and 50,000 people have already signed. In 2012, the network consists of a team [email protected] of over 30 volunteers and employees, hundreds of resource people, tens of thousands of activists and supporters in France and around the world who demand change ... Why not you? www.sortirdunucleaire.org French organisations exploiting uranium A ‘BLACK FILE’ BOOK ON THE TOPIC CEA , created in 1945, (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique), to manufacture Raphael Granvaud details the conditions under the atomic bomb in secrecy. which France and Areva procure uranium at the Join Survie ! Survie is an association that conducts information and advocacy campaigns for a ↓ drastic reform of French policy in Africa, aimed at citizens and elected lowest price, at the cost of political interference COGEMA , created in 1976, and environmental, health and social disaster representatives. 100% owned by CEA, involved in the uranium chain for local people. It dispels the myth of French For Survie , development issues and poverty in developing countries have primarily political causes (from mining to reprocessing) energy independence through nuclear power, which require a political response. Each of us needs to challenge his/her elected representatives since the uranium fueling civil and military and demand control of the political choices made in his/her name. Framatome , created in 1958, built nuclear reactors in France & sold them to other countries nuclear power comes in large part from Africa. Join our 1700 members and one of our 24 local groups and participate in the spread of its [email protected] ↓ ↓ independent, critical, alternative information through its monthly journal Billets d’Afrique . Your AREVA , created in 2001, Available in French in bookshops, at Survie or contribution provides us with financial independence to perform research and to develop Join us on merger of COGEMA and Framatome publications. Sortir du Nucléaire www.survie.org Rédaction, maquette : Raphaël Granvaud, Anne Roussel, Juliette Poirson, Danyel Dubreuil, Thomas Noirot, Stéphanie Dubois de Prisque Imprimé par 3A, 1 er tirage : 8 000 exemplaires (février 2012) Independence under French yoke A social, health and ecological scandal At independence in 1960, the defense agreements between France and its former Algeria Niger The consequences of 40 years of mining by Cogema and later Areva in Niger are disastrous: colonies, including Niger and Gabon, have a clause called "priority supply" for 17 French nuclear tests Over 100,000 tons of uranium they resulted in agro-pastoral land-grabbing around the two mine sites, destruction of fauna from 1960 to 1966. extracted during the past 40 France on raw materials and strategic products, which safeguarded French interests. years from Arlit, in the Agadez and flora, air contamination by dust and radioactive gases, radioactive contamination of region. The opening of the water resources, and short-term irreversible exhaustion of the aquifers . A conspiracy Imouraren mine is continually of silence reigns over the health impact of mining on people. For mine workers, access postponed since 2009. to care is provided by Areva, whose doctors never diagnose radiation-induced diseases. Areva’s Françafrique networks In Mounana, Gabon, more than 10 years after the end of mining, radioactive waste is still Cogema and Areva have always
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