Left in the dust - Greenpeace

Taking radiation measurements on an ore loader.
For sale:
radioactive scrap metal
“ It’s everywhere. Beams
have been sold across the
country...They are found in
houses. We buy them in the
market. There is no way of
knowing [where all the scrap
is].” 123
Tanko Anafi, former AREVA employee.
Although AREVA claims no
contaminated material gets out of
the mines anymore, Greenpeace
found several pieces of radioactive
scrap metal on the local market
in Arlit, with some radiation dose
rates reaching up to 50 times more
than the normal background levels.
Locals use these materials to build
their homes.
In the uranium mines, equipment and materials used to
process the uranium are likely to become radioactively
contaminated. This includes the mining equipment
used to excavate the uranium ore, but also machines,
barrels, transport systems, and all sorts of tools
that are used in the mines and mills. The radioactive
contamination of the equipment is dangerous for
anyone who comes in contact with them.
The problem of contaminated scrap metal poses a
serious health risk, because every piece of metal
and textile – contaminated or not – is used for
construction of houses, tools, kitchen utensils, etc.
According to ex-workers from the mine, textiles that
were previously used at the bottom of settling ponds
of radioactive liquids in the uranium leaching process,
have been widely distributed to the mine workers.
People used them in their houses, unaware of their
radioactive risks.
123 Interview with Tanko Anafi, former mine worker, Arlit, Niger, November 2009
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