Niger dreams of a nuclear future

The West African state of Niger is one of the world’s biggest producers of uranium, now it wants to have its own nuclear reactor to provide the energy it needs to fuel growth.

"If there is something that we have to do, it is to have our own civilian nuclear reactor," said government spokesman Marou Amadou this week.

Niger is a politically unstable country that has just emerged from years of military rule.

It is also one of the world’s poorest countries despite being one of the world’s largest producers of uranium with 7.5% of the world’s uranium coming from just two Nigerien mines.

Its wealth of natural resources, however, has proven more of a curse than a blessing.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan has led many to reconsider the safety of nuclear power and this week Germany announced that it would cease to use nuclear power by 2022.

Yet Niger believes that a nuclear reactor will be the answer to its own, and the region’s, power needs as West Africa’s poor nations try to develop themselves out of poverty.

"The one thing to highlight here is that our energy needs are low so we will only [have a reactor] in the context of a consortium of African states," said the government spokesman.

But the prospect of nuclear power in a politically unstable region will worry many.