Last weekend French President Nicholas Sarkozy travelled to Niger to ‘to promote French interest’. Which actually mean ‘to see how best French nuclear giant Areva can best continue to exploit the uranium resources and people of Niger‘.

Areva have just signed a contract with Niger’s government to ‘launch mining at the mammoth Imouraren deposit, north of the country, which will be the company’s largest uranium production site.’

We’re not sure that the people living around the Imouraren deposit will be jumping for joy at the news. Particularly when they hear what Areva has done in collusion with the country’s government at its other uranium mines in Niger.

‘Dust contaminated with the long-lasting radium’, ‘contaminated scrap metal from mining sites […] used in housing construction, kitchen utensils and tools’, and ‘environmental studies carried out by CRIIRAD and Sherpa in 2005 in mining communities showed water radiation levels up to 110 times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safe drinking water standards’.

Here’s a novel idea, Areva: why don’t you think about clearing up one mess before making another? You know, like you’d expect a child to do.