Niger's Radioactive Uranium Pollution | Toxicity Worse than Chernobyl (Nigerien Documentary)
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- Опубликовано: 12 фев 2024
- We follow the uranium path from Niger to Europe to reveal the extent of the radioactive pollution created.
In the Niger desert, home to some of the largest uranium reserves in the world, lies the Areva mine. Every year, Niger produces over 2,500 tonnes of yellow cake, a uranium concentrate, creating tonnes of toxic waste. Close to the mine is the village of Arlit, where radioactivity levels exceed those of the Chernobyl Prohibited Zone. Dust from the mine is carried on the winds into people’s houses, endangering their lives and killing local wildlife.
From Niger, the Uranium is shipped to the Orano plant in Narbonne, France, which has become the gateway of uranium to Europe. Here it is purified before being sent on to nuclear plants, a process which again causes tonnes of toxic waste. Near the plant, radioactivity levels are 50 times normal and campaigners call for tighter regulation.
The Green Warriors team take dozens of samples from residents in both Arlit and Narbonne to learn more about uranium pollution. Their findings trigger a political debate and are used as evidence in a lawsuit against the mining company.
This film was first released in 2021 by Martin Boudot.
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The nervous look on the mine company representative when he pulled out the radioactive metal 😂
If our companies can operate like this in Europe, imagine how it looks in most places of the world with far less reaching environment laws. This is a top of an iceberg.
"Greed has no morals".
True words
Here in South Africa, the mines also created radioactive waste in the dust. It is blown all over Johannesburg and surrounding areas.
Nobody says anything.
What a horror. I hope that someone important is made to take notice soon.
Lived in Harare and was sick four or five times a year but since moving back to the UK I've been sick once in ten years, I was told that it's alot to do with Africas dry dusty conditions.
Sounds exactly what happened to Australia's Asbestos mine. Voices have to be made loud before the companies do anything, or a ton of people will die
I worked on an oilfield. When i arrived service companies sandblasted vessels in a maintenance project. Without even dust masks. Short time after they had full body condoms and breathing supply from outside the vessel. The material they removed was mainly gypsum CaSO4 with some content of Sr90SO4 and RaSO4. And in the sludge were two lead isotopes one of them Pb210. So most was alpha and beta radiation that wont pass the steel of the vessel but is very bad after inhaled or swallowed. The lead gave off neutron radiation what is harder to detect. Radon was mainly in the gas phase. Later we got a decontamination company to sandblast old pipes in a special facility to collect the blast off material in drums and put it in a landfill with bottom and walls from concrete. They did not allow us to go as close as 10m to certain pipes. Especially some gas pipes. I got samples of sludge where the counter gave a constant beep with 10000 times the environmental radiation through the glas bottle...
Purchase a Geiger counter if possible to avoid concentrations
I'm only about 10 minutes in. And I would like to say you guys have brass balls to be there and do what you did. Absolutely heroic. The danger level had to be off the charts. Well done. And what trash mining practices.
Im absolutely disgusted and saddened by what is being reported here!!!This is why humanity has no hope… I have nothing else to say I’m shaking mad right now
This isn't about you
Scientists have already declared Planet Earth Dead with no chance of it being resuscitated.
love how the plant director of the plan says there is no environmental effects from the plant, but you can't grow food around the plant because.... uhhh... its too safe!! yeah to safe to grow food!! you gotta go grow it away from this nuclear fuel processing plant. what an absolute joke how can he look himself in the face each morning
Money
Scientists can be far more corrupt than politicians.
Remember this picture when you look at the prosperity of French nuclear energy. The French are still exploiting half of Africa! And the waste from this day was or is still being transported to the Russian Federation. They settled in great, though.
That is what colonies are for
France is EU’s first importer of ‘Russian nuclear products’, maybe its in the contract to send back the waste or what do you think? So maybe its Russia exploiting Africa?
Obligatory "Chernobyl" (2019) reference:
"The Geiger counter is maxed out at 9.99 micro sieverts."
"9.99 micro sieverts per hour? Not great but not terrible."
Thank you to all the people involved in making this truth seeking documentary!
Also check out the marine dyiff covered by Dana Durnford at Nuclear For Dummies
Fukushima has 4 fully blown out spent fuel pools and china syndromes and just had another massive quake resulting in another meltdown and the entire Pacific is already caput.
Radioactive waste isn't just a US or Russian problem.
All you have to say is "multinational corporation" for me to know it's monstrous.
They run democracies globally.. “companies” they are in the state, police, military..
Imagine how bad it will be with no control over conditions or safety now post-coup
@@5801160052086 I do not concede that it will be automatically bad. It hasn't been yet for the past several months.
But were it to be bad, bad on one's own terms (where you also get all the benefit to be had if it works) is preferable to the bad on the colonizer's terms (under which the benefits accrue to the few, and the "externalities" of industrial waste fall to the many).
@@5801160052086 I do not concede that it will be automatically bad. It hasn't been yet for the past several months.
But were it to be bad, bad on one's own terms (where you also get all the benefit to be had if it works) is preferable to the bad on the colonizer's terms (under which the benefits accrue to the few, and the "externalities" of industrial waste fall to the many).
Blaming the company.
Instead of blaming the country that has weak laws and doesn’t enforce public safety!!
👏👏🤦♂️
more power to these brave people that are trying to make this world a better place👍👍👍🤗
Man wears a plastic glove and sticks his hand in dirt reading at 2,700 units a second. That was not a wise move...
This is a fantastic documentary
Why?
Work of the highest order. well done for this documentary.
Narbonne residents need to test for Radon. Radon will be a good indicator of your exposure to a large amount of uranium. This test would be a great inexpensive screening test for people living there. Soil and water would obviously be next.
What I find extremely concerning. Not only for this town but for west Africa and even north America. Reason? The dust stroms. Every year, the Sahara has annual dust strom with high winds that picks up the sand and dust and blows it towards the west, eventually swirling around off the north west African Atlantic Coast. With the combination of the Sahara dust stroms, winds, and warm ocean water, stroms form and some of these stroms can become hurricanes that move their way across the ocean to the American continent and can as we know hit the eastren seabord of the United States. The likelihood of this highly radioactive dust making its way to the US via hurricanes! Ya kinda concerning.
I was just thinking about the same thing , i come from a country that borders niger and and everyear from December to February we get dust storms from the sahara it covers everything,the towns become dusty and hazy with dust , sometimes planes cant land when its really bad , the dust is on its way to north america the Amazon etc .
If that dust spreads out over only a few miles the levels of radiation would already become so low a geiger counter won't even pick it up. There is natural radiation everywhere in earth you know. Especially beaches. I would say take a geiger counter to your next vacation and you'd be shocked how radioactive most beaches are. And not because of fukushima but natural uranium in seawater that has been there for millions of years.
Great reporting. This is mind blowing and sick that companies and governments do this shit.
Thought that geiger counter thing at :30 seconds was gonna break out into a bagpipe tune
Hahahaha omfg bruh I'm dying
No human should suffer (becoming sick, their environment becoming inhospitable, financial ruin, etc) by the gross negligence and illegal activities of any corporation.
Thank you for publishing this eye opening documentary and bringing awareness to this tragedy on behalf of all those in the small villiage in Niger whom continue to suffer from the open uranium mines of Areva, (now Orano).
When they pulled out the geiger counter and went "EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL" I just laughed because they showed less radiation than you would get from riding an airplane! LOL
BTW 20kcps is WAY HIGHER than 9.99 USV/H!
Uhhh you forgot that uranium dust is taken to the bones by the body, where your bone marrow is at. The air plane ride only bombards you from the outside and youll find NO gamma rays getting you from the sun.
They were so happy to right that in such bold letters for the thumb nail.
Sssssssstop
More one great investigative and informative documentary to show how our health and environment are exposed to several types of pollution, toxins, drugs, hazards, and quite serious !
And it is here is the one of scariest ever.
Devastating.
Stay strong. Godspeed.
Do this happen in Australia or Canada or Kazakhstan or Namibia? Seems like the leaders never made rules for mining and really doesn't care about whats going on as long as they get money.
Well done keep up the great work…
This guys voice is so wonderful.. my favorite word is reservoir
One thing is for sure. It's too late to save our planet. We failed.
This is what happens when companies don't have oversight. Greed greed greed.
Just remember: the sandstorms of the Sahara sweep that dust across entire continents to Europe, Asia, and even across the Atlantic to the Americas. And there are entire man-made mountains of radioactive dust to get transported elsewhere.
Dust diluted to that degree would have to be blown for a very long time to add up to levels harmful to humans or the environment. On a local level though, the issue is very real.
Breaking my heart. These devices to measure and record are inexpensive to buy, maintain, and calibrate. Get the picture? This is all done on purpose...
Cheap to who westerners maybe Africans no
@@davideriksen2434If africans can buy cars and telephones they can afford Geigercounters..
You can actually build them yourself even cheaper.
Banger! What an amazing collaboration. ⚛
Ok the whole industry is bad but why not put the processing plant in a mega dome like the football stadiums are?
Because they are digging. You wouldn’t have a base to put such a heavy structure on; the ground would be far too unstable. There are other measures they could do to prevent the contamination of the surround area.
Mining 1 ton of uranium ore produces 40tons of radioactive waste. How big do you wanna build that dome?
Unbelievable documentary, unfortunately the people will still struggle..
Explains a hell of a lot
Great Doco, but what were the results of the testing of the people who live around the Areva mine? How contaminated are they?
The uranium levels you reported around the processing plant appear to be simular to natural uranium levels where I live near Denver Colorado USA. Like above farm produce levels but not unexpected here.
30 times above normal average so what are you on about?
It comes down to whether 20 times background levels in trees poses a large or small threat to health. I guess it's a low level risk. I'd be interested to hear how the risk compares with that from naturally occurring radon levels. I don't think I'd want to live next door to an Uranium processing plant.
Reminds me of Goodsprings from Fallout. Good lord.
The title of this video made me do a double take
You aren't the only one 😂
Yeah, read that wrong.
Yeah, they forgot a G. 😮
Same here😂😂😂
Guilty as charged
Another sad nuclear legacy of mankind 😢
That sort of pollution is restricted to hotspots , green energy pollution has no hotspots but is planted everywhere , time will tell the pollution by green energy as well , it is far from harmless
I watch this why I wonder had to be born in a better place but never have nothing to live for. Theses people are blessed to have families some of us can't get that
Wat
So you’re saying you were born in a better country..but feel like you have nothing to live for? Could it be because you have it all together? @kaldennis2772
I think he was hinting on being unable to have a family@@Meepmeshaquandaija
Because in the west everyone is so divisive. Rich vs poor, minority vs majority, straight vs LGBT, left vs right, woke vs sanity. Everyone is divided among so many lines that people just avoid each other now. For example the other day a person with a beard and very masculine face and appearance bagged my groceries and I said "thank you sir" and "she" apparently.. got mad and said "it's mam"
I think this may be about as good as the best journalism can do for our world. This is so good and so brave, after becoming so cynical these days, I almost can't believe it.
Why am I not surprised?
Such reports need to go viral... our energy and money hunger will kill us.
Looks and behaves like my beautiful companion. I rescued her when she was 3 weeks old. I spent weeks nursing her back to health. I fell in love with her. l named Jade. She is my best friend. I love you Jade.❤ You saved me. You came into my life when I need it the most. Thank you. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This is wholesome 💪🏾🙏🏾
No care for regs… wait… what regs… people are glowing… no big deal.
25:09 - yumm... yum some organic radioactive French wine with a hint of Uranium and Tritium on those crops going on there.
Shocking documentary. I was not aware of this disgusting and deadly practice. Thanks France!
That's great...
Well, I read that one wrong
Remember that movie SAHARA with Mathew mcoanghy* 👈(yeah I know). Where they dumped the chemicals in the underground water supply? Oh Africa, too bad…so sad!
I was scrolling by way to fast and had to double take the thumbnail
Enjoy your Grapes and wine. I knew the only reason cancer is on a high is due to negligence. Disgusting
Radioactive samples in a parcel make their way over borders to France? This is very scary! At least it looks like you did that. Is there any more information like a special declaration to these samples? I hope so. Appreciate your answer in advance.
The radiation is so low it wouldn't ring any alarms
Your home firalarm would emit more rads
This is all in the NATURAL decay chain of uranium. Uranium eventually decays to stable lead over many thousands of years. A small quantity for analysis by a laboratory will pose little risk to the general public. And Yes, the shipping company will require shipping papers and documentation to accept the sample shipment for delivery to the laboratory. Finally, a chain of custody must be established or the lab tests results are a waste of time and money in the court of law.
@@robertlee6338Ionization smoke detectors got replaced by optical ones decades ago..
Your radioactive smoke detector isnt the standard anymore. Its old toxic waste. Like leaded paint..
Every summer I re-read my grandfather's copy of "Hiroshima" to pay homage to the first to die. The silliest thing I keep hearing is the reference to "normal levels of radioactivity". The ability to precisely measure that "normal" level did not exist until decades after the construction of many nuclear plants and the detonation of over 8000 test bombs into our atmosphere, spreading a thin layer of poison over the whole planet. We have no idea what the Earth considers "normal". Whatever positive uses exist for Uranium, the main and original purpose of the Nuclear industry is the manufacture of the means to destroy and kill.
I agree so much and it's weird how it's becoming more and more of a niche idea to be cautious against it
I could give you a hug, I feel so alone in this. Oil is bad, natural gas is bad. Carbon Dioxide and cars are bad. Electric batteries will save our children and a war against Russia will save Europe. Nuclear power will save us all and World government will make it possible. If you roll up your sleeve, you can live to see it all. It's all crazy. History shows that people only act when their back is against the wall. The only people in that situation already are the people in Israel. I don't mean to overwhelm you, but I'll bet you're already scared. When the attacks started coming from the North last October, one of the first rocket attacks was at the Israeli nuclear waste storage facilities.@@28_futaba
Cant believe they got those holding pools like that with the wind blowing it right into town?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: shadows of niger
I wonder how Mr Oppenheimer would feel about these people in addition to everything he knew about him work.
I respect this reporter for confronting these guys but doing it in a way that doesn’t make them feel attacked so they continue to open up about their dirty tricks.
It’s sick that they deny this. And I’m proud of you for not knocking out any of the liars that swear they have zero health issues
After this , Orano will buy Criirad and close it... Simple as that
Fifty years later, and people still live there?
Why do people choose to stay in a contaminated area? Don't tell me they've had generations of zero options.
It's really sad and eye opening at the same time, when look at every "power player" in the geopolitics board game you can see in every one of the them the "reason" that they are wealthy. England - British empire, French - African colonies, America - build by Chinese and kept afloat by black people. Seems there is no prosperity without exploration.
So what is the effects here compaired to fossil fuel waste areas. In Louisiana area USA near oil refineries there is a very high increase in cancers and all sorts of diseases. Is there any comparson?
Look at all the animal life that thrives around Chernobyl
There is a grossly obvious discrepancy of wealth between the people living in Arlit and the companies mining and refining the Uranium. That alone needs fixed immediately. Would help bring in more doctors to the area and create an infrastructure that doesn't rely on stolen Uranium loaded steel beams. The mining company is at fault here. Orano needs to fix this!
MY GOD
Here in canada we turn our uanium mines into senior living paradise!
Before 53 years, my City Weilheim get the Partnercity Narbonne for better understanding, but that nobody knows about..... :(
So at night they all turn green light
This is so sad.
This is stupid... You are safe under 5000, so them going around with beeping at 2000-3000 is absurd...
It is all within the safe range...
@ronjones8696 nah 5000....
A widely used figure is a 5% excess risk of death from cancer with a 1 Sv (1000 mSv) dose. This is extrapolated linearly for lower doses.
@@CrabFilesBullshit. 5000 mSv is going to kill you when exposed to it one time. Fukushina recorded 400mSv per hour and that was considered critical already.
the sound of the goat
And here’s me invested in Niger uranium companies
They can not get away from it, by only moving who has that money! We live in a world where everyone is on the take.
Hence the Coup!!!
This tugs at my heart so deeply. How can a civilian help stop the bloodshed? Please direct me. I have two hands. 🙌
At 18:34 that pole is glowing???
That place reminds me of the hunt for red October. Both were disasters. Those former workers and such were all paid and aren't supposed too be where they are. I worked at the various factories owned by the company mentioned. We all know everything is polluted. I had it all cleaned up. Someone else probably ran it into the ground again! Ongoing issue.
I met a male nurse in the 1990s who was ex-British Army. He told me he worked driving eco-tourists around Africa when he left the military. He told me before GPS how they Once took a wrong turn and found themselves in front of a large column of French military vehicles, trucks with shipping containers and excavators. They freaked out and pulled guns on them and pulled them out of their vehicles, interrogating them; while this was going on the two senior officers argued in FRENCH as one wanted to shoot them all and bury them in their trucks. He said he didn't know for sure but thought they were dumping RADIOACTIVE Material. Luckily, calmer heads prevailed, and they were led out of the area and onto the right track to their destination. TRUE STORY
I somehow believe this
Now that we know What we have to search for How.. the Uranium mining will not go away any time soon and unfortunately as it seem it's still one of the cleanest way to produce energy.. of course I feel for the people living in surrounding areas and something should be done about it
For the good uranium may have done for science, tech....it's done equally bad...Clean fuel? Pah...
BELIEVE me when i say i am never going to eat or drink anything that comes out of France from this day forward.
I'm all for getting less dependant from oil coming from mainly Arab countries or from Mexico etc., all for getting less dependant from natural gas coming from Russia or Algeria. It also is clear that alternative energy sources are unable to produce the quantity of energy the industrial countries need. So, unfortunately, nuclear energy seems to be the only other strategy available. I can uderstand that. But is it really not possible to do this in such a way that there is a minimal impact both in mining towns in Africa etc. and in places where nuclear waste is stockpiled ? I mean, is it not possible to use a bigger part of the profit for security measures in stead of giving it to the shareholders in their fancy villa's in Switserland or god knows where ? And: The company says it is in accordance with the international rules. Fine. Logical question: who decided about the levels used in these international rules, and to what extend are these nuclear experts linked to the nuclear energy producers ? Can't the waste be stored in the underground, in stead of in the open ? What if a Boeing or Mirage crashes on such a site ? Why is this nuclear sector so good in making itself suspicious, if not hated ? Why not just open communication, and a REAL commitment in resolving the problems in 5, 10...years in financially realistic phases in stead of always trying to hide things in the hope to get away with it forever. This is the asbestos-saga all over again.
Uranium mining is very low risk. I doubt the message as here conveyed.
As a specialist ive been to Chernobyl and Mayak… these are not uranium but enrichment facilities where daughter products of enriched 235 are very active. It is very different to yellow cake dust. This is not good BUT at tye same time sensationalized… overcooked to peovoke a reaction. This is ok too because it is poor health n safety. But not what the title suggests.
IT seems like they are really only picking up low levels of radiation on contact with sources. I doubt they receive much of a dose from the radiation. I would be more concerned about radon in the buildings and breathing in large amounts of contaminated dust. I have clocks that put off more radiation than they were showing here.
why does this country do this to its people? sad
This is when only France and US has considerable nuclear power. Imagine China or India going in all nuclear.
Unfortunately, the sad reality is they'd probably be better off. I don't mean in any way to minimize the suffering of the people in this video, for sure the power company needs to clean up its act or suffer in court for the damage they have caused. At the same time, my understanding is on a per kilowatt hour basis, coal fly ash intrusions in the ground and heavy metals from emissions in the air have a much broader carcinogen effect.
Uranium mining is close to the worst pollutant there is, using present techniques. A damn shame more environmentally friendly ways to mine uranium always get shelfed because of profit.@@johnbigelson7471
So Sad...humans really have screwed up the balance.
Yes! Brethren!
And most of France’s energy comes from ????
Uh huh
Man, the cover of this video isn’t right. I read it at first and saw the photo going what the fuck?
bEING some one who was educated in nuclear physics, I see the town in africa and yes thats bad, BUT in france the effluent is uranium 238 an alpha emitter. To have as dust like in africa that is extremely dangerous once inhaled or ingested. But when put in those barrels which are mainly mixes of nitric acid and U238 as the U235 which is much more radioactive and dangerous, is made into yellow cake or metal ceramics for reactors or weapons. The steel casing of those drums will stop all the alpha particles from the waste. In fact you can put high level fission products such as cobalt60 strontium 90 and iodine131, in a concrete cask and it is perfectly safe. So the people in africa should be scared to death, the people in france while yes its an eye sore in the vinyards have nothing to worry about. Don't belive me? Do the math yourself, MITOPEN course has a whole class on nuclear101 get the text book and a calculator and form your own opinion.
uff.... didnt know France was doing this kind of things
4:00 Where is the rest of this weapon fams?? Ya'll just got a barrel and a buttstock.
Interesting report, but I’m a little suspicious of the equipment being used(far from professional units) and the levels being reported (as to what they really mean) , many of those measurements, although they may seem noisy, aren’t really crazy high either 🤷♂️
I’m not suggesting there isn’t a problem, I just don’t like when scientific data gets exaggerated to invoke certain reactions from an audience that may not have any scientific background to come to a reasonable conclusion on their own 🤷♂️
Uranium ore isn’t particularly dangerous either, it’s more after it’s been refined.
I highly doubt the spoils pile’s from the mine are all that dangerous, considering the uranium has been removed throughout the mining process.
Today a coup has taken place and the mine is no longer in the hands of the same company
It's been returned to its original owners who will sell it to their Chinese partners
@@robertlee6338 on behalf of the russians.
Why don't they sue under tort action for trespass to land? Their radiation is coming over to your land without your permission.
In america too
You shouldn't create nuclear energy until you figure out how to get rid of nuclear waste
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