Gerard Boyce
2016-01-14, Issue 757
cc Getty Seventy years after commencement of the Manhattan project that developed the atomic bomb, a conscious debate on its socio-political consequences is missing when decisions are reached to adopt nuclear energy, most recently by a number of African countries. Until today, the costly projects draw on the legacy of demonstrating power, couched in language of necessity and accompanied by secrecy.
Depuis 40 ans, la multinationale Areva puise abondamment dans les ressources d’un des pays les plus pauvres de la planète. Le Niger pourrait demain devenir le deuxième producteur mondial d’uranium. Pourtant, le pays figure à la dernière place de l’indicat
CNN Dec 20, 2010: "One of the nightmare scenarios of the 21st century is a "rogue state" or terror group getting its hands on nuclear material that could be sufficiently enriched to make a weapon. And diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that from central Africa to central Asia, it's a constant preoccupation of U.S. officials. Two cables from 2007 detailed the discovery of uranium in "multiple containers" in the Democratic Republic of Congo."
Anthony Butler, columnist in Business Day SA, 22 Feb 2013: "One field in which Brics leads the world is nuclear power. Fifty of the 66 nuclear reactors at present under construction are in Brics states....South Africa's R1-trillion procurement from a Chinese-French consortium, steered by Motlanthe, will reach a "point of no return" by June, according to Department of Energy director-general Nelisiwe Magubane. In an interesting coincidence, the energy minister has promised a "nuclear determination" by March. Sceptics in the Treasury, the National Planning Commission and the Department of Science and Technology argue there is simply no fiscal space for such a project.... A Brics bank, however, could facilitate "public corporate" models of financing.
Finian Cunningham: "Rather tellingly, French President Hollande asserted this week: “France is not here in the Central African Republic out of any self-interest… France has come to defend human dignity.” That assertion sounds suspiciously guilt-ridden. The plain truth is France has intervened in CAR for a neo-imperialist bonanza. But it needs a pretext of humanitarianism and sectarian chaos to cover up its naked criminality. This would explain who is engineering the bloodletting in that unfortunate country; and the blood trail goes all the way to Paris."