An independent study being carried out into public health near uranium mines in Niger has entered its “active phase” and will be finalised by the end of December 2005, France’s Areva has said.
Areva said the two-part study is being carried out in response to concerns expressed by members of the public living near the mines. The company also confirmed the study’s findings would be made public.
The first part of the study centres on a clinical audit of the hospitals of the two companies that operate the mines on behalf of Areva subsidiary Cogema. The companies are Somair, which operates an open pit uranium mine north-west of Arlit in central Niger and Cominak, which mines uranium below ground six kilometres south-west of Arlit.
Both hospitals cater for employees of the companies, their relatives, and the residents of the mining towns.
Areva said the second part of the study would be an epidemiological study based on the medical records of patients at both hospitals. This part of the study will assess the prevalence of pathologies among mining company employees and members of the public living near the mines, particularly pathologies potentially caused by uranium dust and radiation. The findings will be compared to pathologies among the general population not subject to the risk of exposure to uranium dust and radiation.
The study is being carried out by two private organisations specialising in epidemiological studies. Areva is funding the study, but in a statement on 17th November 2005 said it had assured the two organisations – Gispe and Quanta Medical, both based in France – of its complete independence.
Areva commissioned an environmental safety study into the same two mines earlier this year [see News No. 76, 25th April 2005]. An Areva spokesman told NucNet the studies were a way of reassuring people about the “absence of impact” of Cogema's mines on health and environment.
Areva has also published the results of a social responsibility audit, carried out by the European ratings agency Vigeo, of its uranium mining activities. The audit measured social responsibility in five different areas: human rights, human resources, environment, customer and supplier relations, and community involvement.
On a scale of 1 to 4, Areva received scores of 2 or 3 in each area. An Areva spokesman said the rating was average, but pointed out that the last three years have shown a positive trend in all of the five areas examined.
Areva subsidiary Cogema is a world leader in natural uranium production, with approximately 7,000 metric tonnes per year, or 20% of worldwide production. The company has mining interests in a number of countries, including France, Canada, Australia, Niger, Ivory Coast and Sudan.
