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Africa and the Nuclear World: Labor, Occupational Health, and the Transnational Production of Uranium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2009

Gabrielle Hecht
Gabrielle Hecht
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Michigan
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Extract

What is Africa's place in the nuclear world? In 1995, a U.S. government report on nuclear proliferation did not mark Gabon, Niger, or Namibia as having any “nuclear activities.” Yet these same nations accounted for over 25 percent of world uranium production that year, and helped fuel nuclear power plants in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Experts had long noted that workers in uranium mines were “exposed to higher amounts of internal radiation than … workers in any other segment of the nuclear energy industry.” What, then, does it mean for a workplace, a technology, or a nation to be “nuclear?” What is at stake in that label, and how do such stakes vary by time and place?

Type
Research Article
Information
Comparative Studies in Society and History , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , October 2009 , pp. 896 - 926
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 2009

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References

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21 Author's interview with Mahata, Tsilamaha, Madagascar, 16 Aug. 1998. Interviews with Tandroy and Betsileo mineworkers were conducted with the aid of translators M. Abdoulhamide and Georges Heurtebize. Quotations that appear in italics indicate the words of the interviewee as related by the translators; insertion of the first person is mine, and replaces the translators' use of the third person.

22 Author's interviews with Fanahia and Itirik, Andolobé, Madagascar, 13 and 14 Aug. 1998; translator: M. Abdoulhamide. Although I did not know it at the time, such questions had their obverse in northern Madagascar, where miners speculated that sapphires were used in bombs. See Walsh, Andrew, “In the Wake of Things: Speculating in and about Sapphires in Northern Madagascar,” American Anthropologist 106, 2 (2004): 225–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 Fanahia interviews, op. cit. Such investments strategies contrast with the “daring consumption” that Walsh, Andrew describes for some young men working in the 1990s in the sapphire-mining town of Ambondromifehy, in “‘Hot Money’ and Daring Consumption in a Northern Malagasy Sapphire-Mining Town,” American Ethnologist 30, 2 (2003): 290–305CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The people I interviewed were, necessarily, long-term inhabitants of the region with deep social networks that bolstered and justified such investments; I do not know how migrant workers spent their wages.

24 Mahata interview, op. cit.

25 Fanahia interview, op. cit.

26 Author's interview with Jeremy Fano, Tranomaro, Madagascar, 18 Aug. 1998; translator: M. Abdoulhamide.

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28 Author's interview with Joseph Ramiha, Tranomaro, Madagascar, 12 Aug. 1998; translators: M. Abdoulhamide and Georges Heurtebize.

29 Author's interview with group of women, Madagascar 1998, anonymity requested.

30 Ibid.

31 Fanahia interview, op. cit. This contrast was remarked upon by visiting CEA personnel as well: Robert Bodu, “Compte-rendu de mission à Madagascar,” ix–4.

32 Marc Edmond Morgaut, “Mission à Madagascar pour le Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique du 11 au 21 novembre 1958,” Cogéma archives.

33 Bodu, “Compte-rendu de mission à Madagascar.”

34 Y. Legagneux, “Rapport d'Activité du Service ‘Expoitation,’” May 1955, p. 21. CEA-DREM, Mission de Madagascar, Division du Sud. Cogéma archives.

35 An mR/h is a unit that measures the radioactivity level of a substance. It signifies milli Roentgens per hour. International Atomic Energy Agency, Manual on Radiological Safety in Uranium and Thorium Mines and Mills (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1976), 9Google Scholar.

36 The ICRP was started in 1928 as a group of physicists and radiologists trying to figure out how to limit their own occupational exposure to radiation. After World War II its membership grew and its aims broadened. By the mid-1950s, the ICRP was issuing recommendations on permissible doses for externally and internally absorbed radiation in all manner of occupations. For an insider history, see Clarke, Roger and Valentin, Jack, “A History of the International Commission on Radiological Protection,” Health Physics 88, 4 (2005): 1–16CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed. For an insider history of radiological standards in the United States, see Walker, J. Samuel, Permissible Dose: A History of Radiation Protection in the Twentieth Century (University of California Press, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Henri Jammet, “Les problèmes de protection posés dans l'extraction et le traitement de l'uranium et du thorium,” in, International Labour Office, Radiation Protection in Mining and Milling of Uranium and Thorium (from a symposium organized by the International Labour Office and the French Atomic Energy Commission, in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Bordeaux, France, 9–11 Sept. 1974) (International Labor Office-Geneva, 1976), 3–10. All translations from the French are my own.

38 Quadjovie, Massan, “Mesures techniques et administratives de radioprotection dans les exploitations d'uranium de Mounana,” Radiation Protection in Mining and Milling of Uranium and Thorium (International Labor Office-Geneva, 1976), 141Google Scholar.

39 Xavier des Ligneris to Secrétaire Général, 8 July 1961; Xavier des Ligneris, “Consignes Relatives à la Protection Contre les Dangers dus à la Radioactivité,” Mounana, 5 May 1961; approuvé par le Directeur des Mines du Gabon, Libreville, 1 June 1961, COMUF archives, Mounana, accessed 1998.

40 Pierre le Fur, Note de Service 072bis, 3 Sept. 1964, COMUF archives.

41 Henri Pello, Service Exploitation, Note d'organisation, “Stockage et distribution des film detecteurs de radioactivité,” 26 Sept. 1966, COMUF archives.

42 Xavier des Ligneris, “Rapport—Contrôle des radiations,” HR/AP n° 2076, 5 Jan. 1968, COMUF archives.

43 Xavier des Ligneris, “Rapport—Contrôle des radiations,” HR/AP n° 2076, 5 Jan. 1968; Xavier des Ligneris, “Rapport—sur le contrôle des risques radioactifs. Février 1968,” YT/AP n° 2169, 21 Mar. 1968, COMUF archives.

44 See, for example, Xavier des Ligneris: “Rapport—Contrôle des radiations,” HR/AP n° 2076, 5 Jan. 1968; “Rapport—sur le contrôle des risques radioactifs. Février 1968,” YT/AP n° 2169, 21 Mar. 1968; “Reference: Votre UF/JL/JF29/68,” HP/MB n° 210/69, 27 Jan. 1968; and “Rapport sur le contrôle des risques radioactifs. Mois de Mai 1968,” YT/LR n° 2275, 20 June 1968, COMUF archives.

45 Paucard, La Mine et les mineurs, 96.

46 J. de Courlon to Xavier des Ligneris, 10 Mar. 1967, COMUF archives.

47 Ibid.

48 Paucard, La Mine et les mineurs, 213; and author's interview with Christian Guizol, Paris, 26 Feb. 1998.

49 Author's interviews with Juste Mambangui and J.-M. Malékou, Mounana, Gabon, 16 July 1998; François Mambangui, Libreville, Gabon, 31 July 1998.

50 Ch. Guizol, “Rapport sur le contrôle des risques radioactifs. Mois de Décembre 1969,” YT/sc n° 0118/70, 9 Feb. 1970, COMUF archives.

51 Ibid.

52 Ch. Guizol, “Rapport sur le contrôle des risques radioactifs, Mois de Mars 1970,” YT/sc n° 0184/70, 27 Apr. 1970, COMUF archives.

53 The COMUF granted me free access to its archives when I visited in 1998. These were not at all organized, however, which made it impossible for me to find complete records on any single topic. Thus, though I did not find records of state inspections, I cannot state conclusively that none took place.

54 “Consigne pour la distribution et l'emploi des explosifs,” COMUF, Exploitation de Mounana, n.d. (ca. 1959), COMUF archives.

55 Author's interview with Marcel Lekonaguia, Mounana, Gabon, 21 July 1998.

56 Author's interview with Dominique Oyingha, Mounana, Gabon, 17 July 1998.

57 Oyingha interview, op. cit.

58 Christian Guizol letter to Directeur Général de la Caisse Gabonaise de la Prévoyance Sociale, 19 Oct. 1970, Objet: Allocations familiales de M. Lekonaguia Marcel; Christian Guizol letter to Directeur Général de la Caisse Gabonaise de la Prévoyance Sociale, 26 Oct. 1970, Objet: Monsieur Lekonaguia; J. C. Andrault letter to Docteur C. Gantin, 27 Oct. 1970, COMUF archives.

59 Oyingha interview, op. cit.

60 “Loi no. 11/2001 du 12 décembre 2001 fixant les orientations de la politique de prévention et de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants,” Hebdo informations, Journal hebdomadaire d'informations et d'annonces légales 451 (23 Feb. 2002): 22–23 (Gabon).

61 Jules Mbombe Samaki, “Memorandum sur la nécessité de la prise en compte de la Veille sanitaire et du dédommagement des anciens travailleurs miniers,” private communication, Libreville, 25 Apr. 2005. See also reports in the Gabonese press: “Le Collectif des anciens travailleurs miniers interpelle la Comuf,” L'union, 3 Feb. 2006; and “Les anciens travailleurs miniers de la Comuf réunis en collectif,” L'union, 17 Feb. 2006.

62 Samira Daoud and Jean-Pierre Getti, “Areva au Gabon: Rapport d'enquête sur la situation des travailleurs de la COMUF, filiale gabonaise du groupe Areva-Cogéma,” Sherpa, 4 Apr. 2007, http://www.asso-sherpa.org/.

63 “L'observatoire de Mounana,” L'union, 1 June 2007.

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66 These were listed as “factors which influenced cases sent to autopsy by the medical attendants (personal interests and bias, etc.), religious grounds for relatives refusing autopsy, type of cases treated in the hospital (e.g., special clinics), etc.” Oosthuizen et al., “Experience in Radiological Protection.”

67 On apartheid science, see Dubow, Saul, A Commonwealth of Knowledge: Science, Sensibility and White South Africa 1820–2000 (Oxford University Press, 2006)Google Scholar.

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69 For an analysis of how population categories have only recently changed in American medical research, see Epstein, Steven, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research (University of Chicago Press, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

70 For example: Stewart, C. G. and Simpson, S. D., “The Hazards of Inhaling Radon-222 and Its Short-Lived Daughters: Consideration of Proposed Maximum Permissible Concentrations in Air,” in Radiological Health and Safety in Mining and Milling of Nuclear Materials: Proceedings, vol. 1 (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1964), 333–57Google Scholar.

71 J. K. Basson et al., “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines,” Atomic Energy Board: PEL 209, Pelindaba, Mar. 1971 (English-language abstract).

72 R. G. Beverly letter to J. T. Sherman, 25 May 1971, subject: report titled “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines,” NV0061126; R. D. Evans letter to C. R. Richmond, 2 June 1971, subject: “Report on Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines,” NV0061125, Nevada Test Site electronic archives (both letters were given the quoted titles by the archives).

73 A. H. Wolff letter to I. Mitchell, subject: “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines” (no enclosures), 10 June 1971, NV0061124; M. A. Schneiderman (National Cancer Institute) letter to Deputy Assistant Administrator for R&D, Environmental Protection Agency, subject: “Report Concerning White South African Gold Miners and Bronchiogenic Cancer,” June 18, 1971, NV0061122; V. E. Archer letter to A. Wolff, 16 June 1971, subject: Preliminary Report re: “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters in South African Gold/Uranium Mines (Criticisms of Report),” NV0061123, all in Nevada Test Site electronic archives, which conferred the quoted titles.

74 A. J. A. Roux to W. P. Viljoen, 16 May 1979, internal ref. LB/35/6/10, Shaun Guy, “A Review of Files at the Government Mining Engineer Concerning Radiation in Mines and Works,” 26 Aug. 1986, 3, Shaun Guy private papers.

75 Interview by the author and Bruce Struminger with Shaun Guy, Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 July 2004. Guy generously gave me copies of the documents he had collected.

76 Guy interview, op. cit.

77 Basson, “Lung Cancer and Exposure to Radon Daughters,” 12.

78 Guy interview, op. cit.

79 “Results of Radon Daughter Sampling in Bird Reef,” West Rand Consolidated Mines, Ltd., Mine Office, West Rand, 13 Dec. 1973, Shaun Guy private papers.

80 Shaun Guy, “Memorandum: Meeting at West Rand Consolidated with the Mine Manager, 24 February 1986.” LB/35/6/10/8, Shaun Guy private papers. For a discussion of the “union situation” that the manager mentioned, see T. Dunbar Moodie with Ndatshe, Vivienne, Going for Gold: Men, Mines, and Migration (University of California Press, 1994)Google Scholar.

81 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Licensing Branch, “Report of the Underground Survey for Radon Daughters at West Rand Consolidated Mine, 5 March 1986,” 23 May 1986, p. 5, LB/35/1/13; LB/35/6/10/8, Shaun Guy private papers. By this point, the South African Atomic Energy Board had changed its name to the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa.

82 “Draft: South African Energy Policy: Discussion Document: Comment,” 2 Oct. 1995, 1, 11, Papers of the office of the Assistant Adviser on Safety and Environment, Chamber of Mines, accessed privately in May 2004, 8.

83 A. H. Munro letter to M. Golding, 2 Mar. 1995, papers of the office of the Assistant Adviser on Safety and Environment, Chamber of Mines, accessed in May 2004, 5. For the 1990 ICRP recommendations, see Annals of the ICRP 21, 1–3, esp. pp. 25–32.

84 D. G. Wymer, “Note for the Record: Meeting between the Chamber and Marcel Golding, Cape Town, 7 June 1995,” 14 June 1995, papers of the office of the Assistant Adviser on Safety and Environment, Chamber of Mines, accessed in May 2004, 9.

85 For one example among many, see McCulloch, Jock, Asbestos Blues: Labour, Capital, Physicians & the State in South Africa (James Currey, 2002)Google Scholar.

86 Lubin, Jay H. et al. , “Radon and Lung Cancer Risk: A Joint Analysis of 11 Underground Miners Studies,” NIH report 94-3644 (National Institutes of Health, 1994)Google Scholar.