French nuclear company Orano ended the first half of the year with a €133 million loss due to a “highly degraded” situation since the change of power in Niger last year, according to RFI.
At the end of June 2024, Orano noted a “deteriorated situation affecting mining operations in Niger,” chief financial officer, David Claverie, stated. A coup d’état in Niger on 26 July last year halted imports of critical materials needed for uranium exploitation at Orano’s Somaïr mine.
Developments in the country made it impossible to mine soda ash, carbonate, nitrates, and sulphur.
Although uranium mining continued into the first quarter of 2024, “after several months of early maintenance,” Somaïr sales could not resume “due to a lack of logistics solutions approved by the Nigerian authorities.” The blockage led the mine to “financial difficulty … weighing on its ability to continue its operations,” according to the statement.
France’s nuclear dependence
According to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, 40 per cent of France’s energy consumption comes from nuclear power, 28.1 per cent from petrol, 15.8 per cent from natural gas, and 12.9 per cent from alternative sources such as wind and hydro power.
Besides, data from French electricity company EDF shows that nuclear power generates 70.6 per cent of the country’s electricity, compared to hydropower at 11.2 per cent, wind power at 6.3 per cent, and solar power at 2.2 per cent.
Last February, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “nuclear renaissance” to “move away from fossil fuels” by building 14 new nuclear reactors. The war in Ukraine prompted EU countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas imports, which gave a new impetus to France’s nuclear industry. However, the country’s dependence on uranium would rise dramatically in the coming years, experts warned.
With the withdrawal of Orano from Niger, most of the uranium now comes from Kazakhstan (2,840 tonnes), whereas Niger’s Somaïr (1,996 tonnes) remained in second place until 2023. The Cigar lake mine in Canada also produces 1,788 tonnes. Moreover, France is also considering co-operation with Mongolia.
However, despite the challenges in Niger, Orano stated that it expected stable revenues of about €4.8 billion and pre-tax margin rate on revenue to remain at 22-24 per cent.
