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Nigeria’s Nuclear Plant Build-up by mustymatic(m): 2:13pm On Apr 16, 2015 |
The Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission recently revealed that the country has signed a deal with Russian nuclear group, Rosatom Corporation, to build four power plants in the country with each costing $20billion. This is a follow-up to President Goodluck Jonathan’s disclosure at the Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, the Netherlands, that Nigeria will develop a nuclear energy industry and where he expressed the commitment that negotiations will be multi-lateral and in line with the internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. Though the idea of a nuclear programme for the country was first mooted in 1976, it was not until 2007 that Nigeria’s civilian nuclear energy aspirations were given any real thought by the administration of then president, Umaru Yar’Adua, who said that the country planned to add nuclear power to the national grid by 2017, a mere two years from now. Already, research efforts on the programme are ongoing in some higher institutions in the country. If this agreement with the Russians scales through, the project will generate and add to the national grid an extra 1,200 megawatts. This will, no doubt, enhance the country’s energy supply, with the attendant positive effects on economic and industrial growth. But because of the delay in giving the programme the urgent attention it deserves, a few issues that are important for its actualisation are beginning to emerge, such as the shortage of specialists in the field and funding issues. The few professionals in the country are migrating to other countries where their services are in urgent demand. We are, however, encouraged to be optimistic that this fresh agreement will chart a new course for the country’s nuclear aspirations. We are persuaded to express this hope, because of the probable impact of a joint committee already established to facilitate the process as well as the advanced negotiations, particularly in the areas of financing and planning. With these, the programme may possibly have a chance of taking off. But there are other concerns and they are genuine. With the existence of the Boko Haram insurgency and considering the vulnerability of the country’s uranium stock, it is our opinion that any discussion on the subject must address issues relating to the security of the facilities when they are eventually put in place, especially with what happened in 2013 in neighbouring Niger Republic where al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) suicide bombers attacked a uranium mine owned by the French nuclear company Areva, killing 26 people and injuring 30. AQIM is known to have ties with Boko Haram. Besides security concerns, would the country be able to handle the fallout of a nuclear leakage? We call to mind the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union and a similar challenge in Japan. These are countries advanced in nuclear science and technology. However, regardless of the obvious fears and anxieties associated with the programme even in advanced countries, we recommend it, bearing in mind its benefits. leadership.ng/opinions/426011/nigerias-nuclear-build-up |
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