Auranium mining company operating in Arlit city in Niger has been accused of adopting inadequate safety measures, following findings that the radioactive metal was harming the local population.

The company, Cogema Resources Inc, is part of a French government-owned group, which is one of the largest suppliers of uranium in the world. It has been mining for three decades but local environmental groups only recently found the link between the mines and a number of diseases being caused by radioactive dust.

A French nuclear watchdog, criirad, has said that not enough measures were being taken to seal the radioactive scrap metal in the area. Cogema, however, claims that safety standards had been upgraded in 2003.