...Criirad (Committee for independent research and information on radioactivity)...carried out a series of measurements [in the uranium mining town of Arlit] in 2003...Criirad, assisted by...Sherpa..., drew attention to...inadequate precautions...to contain radioactive dust from the mines;...risk of groundwater contamination; radioactive scrap metal from machinery and trucks...sold on local markets...shortcomings in the protection of workers against radiation...This groundswell, which coalesced around the Aghir In'Man organisation in Arlit, led Cogema (as Areva was called until 2001) to acknowledge failings in its management... Areva...[reached an] agreement [with Sherpa]...in 2009 providing for the setting up of a health and safety observatory [with] medical staff, appointed by a joint committee representing the company and civil society...A year later there is still no sign of the observatory. Furthermore in February Greenpeace and Criirad published another report alleging...serious hotspots in the town...Areva disputes this analysis. "...we shall be publishing a document responding to these serious, unfounded accusations," says Didier Fohlen at Areva...A representative of [Aghir In'Man], Almoustapha Alhacen, says: "Monitoring started as a result of the Greenpeace report, but...no progress has been made with the search for scrap metal inside homes."