Niger: AREVA deplores lack of transparency on the part of Greenpeace

Niger: AREVA deplores lack of transparency on the part of Greenpeace

Niger: AREVA deplores lack of transparency on the part of Greenpeace

March 29, 2010

At the invitation of AREVA, five representatives of Greenpeace visited the group’s mining facilities in the north of Niger in November 2009.

The NGO took a number of readings and samples on the sites without sharing them with AREVA.

Many of the conclusions and statements issued since by Greenpeace are un-founded.

The group finds this lack of transparency highly regrettable.

AREVA’s mining activities in Niger are carried out in strict compliance with international health, safety and environmental standards. The many international inspections and audits hoped and prayed for by Greenpeace have already been carried out on several occasions over the last few years. The French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Institute, Quanta Médical, Gispe (a French non-profit organization working in healthcare) and AFAQ (the French quality assurance association) have all visited the group’s sites to attest to the quality of its environment, health and radiation protection management systems.

AREVA has also joined forces with the Nigerien government, Sherpa and Médecins du Monde to run a Health Observatory through which it monitors the health of former mineworkers and those living around the sites. This is the only initiative of its kind in the industrial world.

The group reiterates that it is perfectly prepared to enter into calm, argued discussions and confirms its commitment to developing responsible mining activities.