Title of paper

4. Where does Namibia’s uranium go to?

There is only little information available on trading of Namibia’s uranium. In 2004, Rössing exported 106 tons U₃O₈ to China. This was the first ever export of a western producer to China. In 2007, Rössing produced 3,046 tons of U₃O₈ of which 30% was sold to North America, 13% to Europe, 29% to Asia and 26% to Japan. In 2012, Rössing’s customers were North America with 54%, Europe, the Middle East and Africa with 24%, Asia with 13% and Japan with 9% (Rössing, 2012). Areva planned to sell 35% of Trekkopje’s uranium output to China. Presently, Areva does not produce any uranium.

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  The export of uranium raises serious questions which should be answered by government:
  
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  Can Namibia guarantee that the exported uranium is not used for proliferation of nuclear weapons?
  
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  Will one day the nuclear waste, as a product of the yellow cake produced in Namibia, come back to be stored in the country?
  
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  Will Iran demand uranium from Namibia, bearing in mind that Iranian government owns 15% of Rössing Uranium shares?
  

5. Associated industries

The expansion of uranium mines will be accompanied with an estimated threefold increased demand for chemical reagents required for the leaching process. These chemicals are currently imported, mainly from Asia. In April 2011, South African based company Gecko Chemicals announced the development of several industrial plants, a sulfuric acid plant, a soda ash and bicarbonate plant, a phosphoric acid plant and a caustic plant. Namibia has got one deep sea harbour at Walvis Bay. According to Gecko, an additional harbour will be necessary for export and import of bulk commodities. The name for the proposed development is Vision Industrial Park, short VIP. Four sites are earmarked for the factories; three of which are north of Swakopmund towards Wlotzkasbaken, and the fourth behind Dune 7 at Walvis Bay (Gecko Namibia, 2011).
All possible sites are located in the Dorob National Park, legally not meant for heavy industrial developments. The entire coastal area is of special attraction to tourists, and the tourism industry now fears great losses in income. This is again a very controversial issue. On the one hand, Namibia with an unemployment rate of about 37% (2012) needs industrial development to create work places and to improve standard of living. On the other hand, the natural environment will be sacrificed for short-term production and beneficiation for a few. Once the uranium deposits are exploited, the chemicals will not be needed anymore, the factories will be redundant and the workers will be jobless again.

6. Institutions controlling Namibia’s nuclear industry

6.1 Atomic Energy Board of Namibia

The Atomic Energy Board of Namibia (AEB) was established in 2009 under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to fulfil the requirements under section 3 of the Atomic Energy and Radiation Protection Act No 5 of 2005. The aim of AEB is the long-term management of Namibia’s nuclear and radioactive materials in a manner that safeguards people and respects and protects the environment, now and in the future. The mission is to ensure that through the provision of appropriate advice, the use of radiation and nuclear energy in Namibia does not cause unacceptable impact on the health of workers, members of the public and on the environment.³¹

6.2 Uranium Institute Namibia

Also in 2009, the Uranium Institute Namibia (UIN) was launched in Swakopmund as the Chamber of Mines’ uranium chapter with a focus on improving the quality of healthcare, environmental management and radiation safety. This could be a commendable step towards closing the gap between current and best practice if the activities of the institute were not restrained by the fact that it is financed by the uranium mining industry. The UIN is directed by Dr Wotan Swiegers, former medical doctor for Rössing Uranium.³²

6.3 Namibia Uranium Association

The Namibia Uranium Association (NUA) was launched in 2013 as the advocacy body that represents the uranium industry exclusively. The association was established with the aim of enabling senior executives in Namibia’s uranium industry to shape the context in which their industry operates. It argues for policy change that will let uranium compete on its merits as an energy source appropriate for the needs of the twenty first century through research, factual information and advocacy. While still expanding, the association’s membership includes all the Namibian uranium mining operations and most of Namibia’s leading exploration companies and associated contractors.³³

7. Nationalisation of strategic minerals

In April 2011, government through cabinet endorsed a decision that the right to own licences for strategic minerals will only be issued to the state owned company Epangelo (Epangelo is the Owambo word for government), after government recently declared uranium, copper, coal, diamonds and rare earth metals as strategic minerals. Epangelo is a private company with the government of the Republic of Namibia as its sole shareholder, established to ensure national participation in the discovery, exploitation and beneficiation of Namibia‘s mineral resources. It aims to develop a portfolio of high quality assets and services for the benefit of its stakeholders.³⁴
Isaak Katali, Minister of Mines and Energy, said at a media briefing: “To implement the government decision, a change in legislation shall be effected. The Minerals Prospecting and Mining Act, 33 of 1992, is currently being drafted and when finalised, it will inform the licence holders and the general public on the operating modalities.” Present prospecting and mining licences and renewals thereof will not be affected by this decision. However, all future expansions of existing mines will fall under the new legislation (Namibia Economist, 13 May 2011).
The dramatic shift in policy has caught many investors and would-be investors unaware. Mining companies now speculate about the percentage of the shares by Epangelo when it enters into joint ventures with private companies to explore and/or mine strategic minerals. One of the reasons terminating the ‘Eldorado’ is to end the speculative activities for exclusive prospecting licences as happened with the sale of the Trekkopje project by UraMin to the French uranium giant Areva for US$ 2.5 billion on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2008.