After the 6 August deadline passed, leaders of ECOWAS ordered the activation of a "standby force" for possible use in Niger (archived here ). Uranium in NigerNiger is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium (archived here) mined near the towns of Arlit and Akokan, 900 kilometres northeast of the capital Niamey. French nuclear fuel firm Orano (formerly Areva) said its uranium operations in Niger had not been disrupted by the crisis. Page 28 shows that Orano subsidiaries Somaïr and Cominak together paid the government 20 billion CFA ($300 million). The World Nuclear Association has not listed Burkina Faso as one of the countries where uranium is mined (archived here).