Niger coup poses no immediate risks to uranium supply to Europe

The recent military coup in Niger has raised the question of European Union’s dependency on imports of uranium mined in the West African nation but according to the bloc’s nuclear agency, Euratom, there are no immediate risks to the EU’s nuclear power production in case Niger’s junta cuts its deliveries.

Eurotom also sought to alleviate any concerns, saying that the EU had enough uranium inventories to fuel its nuclear power reactors for three years. Although Niger has some of the world’s most extensive deposits of uranium, a key ingredient in the nuclear industry, “if imports from Niger are being cut, there are no immediate risks to the security of nuclear power production in the short term,” Euratom said. Adalbert Jahnz, spokesman of the European Commission, also said, “medium- and long-term, there are enough deposits on the world market” to cover EU needs. Niger delivered 25.4% of the EU’s supplies, but Kazakhstan was the biggest supplier of uranium to the EU, with Canada coming in second.

Niger accounts for only 4.7% of global production of natural uranium, far behind Kazakhstan at 45.2%, according to Euratom Supply Agency (ESA), which ensures Europe’s supply of nuclear materials. Mining operations continue in the West African nation that is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium, despite last week’s military takeover.

France’s nuclear fuel firm Orano, which operates a uranium mine in Niger, said last week that it was monitoring the situation closely but that the seizure of power by the military had not for the moment affected the delivery of uranium supplies. Yet, Euroatom said the EU could diversify imports in three years, including from currently idled production sites in Canada, Australia, and Namibia as well as from new deposits.