French nuclear energy conglomerate Areva said on Thursday it had beefed up safety procedures at two uranium mines in Niger after green activists said contaminated scrap metal from the facilities had been discovered at a local junkyard…[and] counter measurements in August showed gamma radioactivity levels to be "more than nine times greater than normal."..."As soon as we were aware (of the practice), we immediately stopped the removal of all scrap from the sites," [Areva] said. [It also added :]"These items had traces of radiological contamination that were of no consequence for public health..."