Turkey's spy chief, top ministers visit Niger to secure Uranium supplies

In order to secure access to the rich uranium deposits, Turkey’s top minister including foreign, defense and energy ministers visited Niger on Wednesday.

The delegation, which is led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and includes top spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, wants to tap Nigerien supplies of the fissile mineral to fuel Turkey’s nascent nuclear-power industry, Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.

The visit comes at a time after Niger’s military government severed ties with France, its former colonial power, by revoking the operating license of Orano, a French nuclear fuel producer, at one of the world’s largest uranium mines.

The company said on June 20 that the Niger government, which came into power through a coup in 2023, had scrapped a mining permit for its subsidiary Imouraren. Niger possesses Africa’s highest-grade uranium ores and is the world’s seventh-largest uranium producer.

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Orano announced on June 20 that the Niger government, which took power in a 2023 coup, had cancelled a mining permit for its Imouraren subsidiary. Niger is rich in natural resources, boasting the highest-grade uranium ores in Africa and ranking seventh globally in uranium production.

Niger has an impressive 5% of global uranium resources and ranks among the top 10 suppliers, that’s why it has become a key target for Turkey’s energy ambitions.

While Turkey has a long-term fuel supply agreement with Rosatom for the Akkuyu project, it cannot process uranium ore into reactor-ready material. Niger, meanwhile, aims to capitalise on surging global demand for uranium, driven by the energy needs of rapidly growing economies like India and China, where uranium is used not only in nuclear power plants and submarines but also in the aviation industry.

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Uranium, a highly valuable and versatile radioactive metal, is crucial in various industries. Its primary application is as fuel for nuclear energy production, generating electricity for millions of people worldwide. Beyond energy, uranium has numerous applications: in medicine, it aids in cancer treatment; in the naval sector, it powers propulsion systems; and in the military domain, it is utilised in nuclear weapons.