Uranium: not so funky town!

I watched this Areva commercial many times and didn’t read the name “Niger” once. I just learned that the French company gets 1/3 of its uranium from this poor African country that has finally decided to diversify the pool of clients. Areva’s 40 years of monopoly is ending… just like Françafrique. After the US, words like Niger and yellowcake are now “embarassing” France:

“Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja said France’s Areva made payments to army deserters who joined a northern Tuareg-led rebellion, deepening accusations the uranium miner helped finance the uprising.

The president, speaking on national television late on Wednesday, also said it would renegotiate Areva’s pricing contract, which expires this year, so that the poor landlocked West African state could profit more.”

So, if you can’t get the Lipps Inc.’s Funky town track out of your brain, I suggest you replace it with this song by the Norwegian band Röyksopp. Remind me … pure air, clean energy.