“We give you formal notice to cease as soon as possible all business and commercial relations in the nuclear sector contributing to the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Russian State”, explains Greenpeace, the NGO for the defense of the environment in letters, dated Monday and made public Tuesday, addressed to the leaders of the two companies.
Some Greenpeace activists also demonstrated in front of the EDF headquarters in Paris on Tuesday morning, unfurling banners “Nuclear: stop Russian contracts” and distributing leaflets. The mobilization was “very calm” and the activists were not arrested by the police, said a spokesperson.
The NGO has listed a series of contracts linking EDF and its subsidiaries to Rosatom, in various fields: fuels, construction and operation of reactors. On the Orano side, the former Areva, Greenpeace notes other contracts concerning radioactive waste and the reprocessing of uranium. “France has never been independent in uranium, even when it still had open uranium mines. Since the early 2000s, Orano (formerly Areva) via its subsidiary Katco, has been present in Kazakhstan and operates the largest uranium mines in the world there. Today, nearly half of the uranium (45%) used in France comes from the former USSR, and from Kazakhstan in particular,” specifies Greenpeace.
“Accomplices”
Still, the energy sector is not currently affected by European sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. But Greenpeace refers to the “vigilance measures” provided for in the Commercial Code, which obliges companies to prevent violations of human rights or the environment.
“Obviously, the Russian state’s war on Ukraine as well as the Russian takeover of Ukrainian nuclear power plants with the complicity of Rosatom, violates all rules of nuclear safety and security at international, European and national level” , believes Greenpeace, adding that these companies are “complicit” in these violations by not ending their commercial relations, according to the NGO.
VIDEO. Nuclear: Greenpeace denounces exports of reprocessed uranium to Russia
“We can only regret the cynicism of Greenpeace which exploits the drama that the Ukrainian people are living to promote their anti-nuclear ideology”, reacted a spokesperson for Orano, who had not yet had access to the formal notice. “The French and European authorities have decided on targeted and potentially scalable sanctions. We are strictly applying the measures decided by the authorities and will continue to do so,” he added.
For its part, EDF did not wish to comment specifically on the action and the letter from Greenpeace but underlined that it “will be able to make decisions on its scope of activity according to the evolution of the situation and apply the measures taken by the French authorities and the countries in which the group operates”.