Concerned about the possibility of contaminating subsurface water, Namibian officials have ordered Russia’s national nuclear energy agency to suspend uranium exploration.
One Uranium, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom, requested water usage permission from Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, but it was denied because the firm could not demonstrate that the technology it used to extract uranium would not pollute. 2019 saw Namibia grant exploration rights to Russia’s national atomic energy organization, the second-largest producer of nuclear fuel globally and the top producer in Africa.
The Namibian official, Calle Schlettwein, said Namibia could not grant One Uranium a permit for uranium mining. The Russian entity still needs a water use permit to begin mining.
Schlettwein said no further permit would be granted because the mining method the company proposed, known as in-situ leaching, was raising environmental concerns. In situ mining involves recovering minerals by dissolving them in an acid pumped into the ground and then pumping the solution back to the surface.
Farmers in Namibia’s eastern Omaheke region, according to Schlettwein, have petitioned against the practice. Although Riaan Van Rooyen, a spokesman for One Uranium, downplayed the worries, Namibian campaigners insist the mining proposal is not worth the danger. The subsidiary of Rosatom is anticipated to challenge Namibia’s rejection of the water permission for uranium mining.
