Nigeria dumps nuclear power plans

Nigeria may have foreclosed any plans to explore nuclear energy as an alternative source of electricity power generation.

Minister of state for power, Nuhu Wya, who gave this hint in Lagos, said the country would explore other means of power generation in which it has comparative advantage.

Responding to a question at the power conference held in Lagos last week, he said with the inherent danger in nuclear power, the country had no business pursuing that source.

"Why do we have to be talking about using nuclear power? If we have so many other sources of energy that are untapped, why do we have to be talking of one that is not readily available and is a long term development plan? For you to put a nuclear plant and get it working, you are talking about eight years," Mr. Wya said.

Minister of environment, John Odey, had said the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation is no longer an option but a necessity, if Nigeria is to meet her energy needs. According to him, the grid capacity built around oil, natural gas, and hydro is not only grossly inadequate but cannot meet the country's current and future energy demand.

Nuclear emergencies

However, with this pronouncement, the government may have jettisoned the idea. Following the earthquake in Japan, its nuclear plants, which accounts for about 29 per cent of the country's electricity power supply, were badly affected, raising global concern about the dangers of nuclear plants, especially for developing countries like Nigeria.

Though the country has a watchdog, the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, which is supposed to regulate and ensure safety in the use of nuclear energy, its state of preparedness to handle such emergencies is still in doubt.

Mr. Wya said the country has abundant capacity in other energy sources such as hydro and thermal, which have not been fully utilised.

"We have received expression of interest from firms that want to invest in the power sector in hydro, gas, wind, coal, and solar power plants.

"We must remember that Nigeria is gas and oil economy and already has enough gas to potentially power the whole of Africa. In the same manner, government has commenced effort to balance the energy needs with the development of new sources of power from naturally evolved resources. Already, pilot scheme for solar and wind projects are ongoing," Mr. Wya said.

Potential impediments

Mr. Wya said potential impediments to the entrance of private sector investment in every facet of the power sector will be totally eliminated, in order to make it attractive to investors.

Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi, said government would guide against the emergence of monopolies and manipulations in the power sector once it is privatised.

"It is normal to find collusion. A market participant can be so powerful that it can consistently act independently in keeping price above competitive level. Electricity market can lend itself to manipulation," Mr. Amadi said.

He said the commission will strive to protect consumers while ensuring that electricity tariff will be competitive enough to encourage investment in the sector.

"We will protect consumers by ensuring just and fair pricing, carry out social policies, and prevent anti-competitive practices by active participants," he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Money/5687384-147/nigeria_dumps__nuclear_power_plans.csp

Good. Nigeria just is not ready for nuclear material,period. Kudos to GEJ.

why can't they put a nuclear power plant in the east so as to create jobs for the youths over there

bad decision GEJ

i mean at this age we do not have constant electricity

We still need to go nuclear despite the associated problems.

juman:

We still need to go nuclear despite the associated problems.

yes we still need to go nuclear

We have enough gas, coal and hydro not to go nuclear. 7th largest gas reserves on the face of the earth. . .

ekt_bear:

We have enough gas, coal and hydro not to go nuclear. 7th largest gas reserves on the face of the earth. . .

and how many of that are you going to build to power the nation of 150 million people

and why can't we go nuclear if i may ask

^-- yes, gas reserves of naija are enough to not only power the country, but all of West Africa.

I'm against nuclear because I don't see why it is necessary when we have a cheaper, safer option.

I don't want some accident to happen where nuclear waste destroys some entire state and wipes out alls its people. Or gives them all cancer.

nuclear power seems to be an important requirement for building an advanced economy.

regular power supply, etc.

however, even the west is treading carefully on this matter, and watching japan.

tpiah!:

nuclear power seems to be an important requirement for building an advanced economy.

False.

regular power supply, etc.

True.

so which first world country do you know without nuclear power.

Alj Uche:

why can't they put a nuclear power plant in the east so as to create jobs for the youths over there

haba aboki na! Do you want to break my ribs?

ekt_bear:

^-- yes, gas reserves of naija are enough to not only power the country, but all of West Africa.

I'm against nuclear because I don't see why it is necessary when we have a cheaper, safer option.

I don't want some accident to happen where nuclear waste destroys some entire state and wipes out alls its people. Or gives them all cancer.

very wrong dapo

the amount of energy generated per meter cube volume of gas is about 10000 times lower than that of 1 grams of uranium

our gas reserves can power west africa, but for how many years before it runs out

how many stations are you planning to build in provise constant electricity alone for lagos not to talk of kano enugu and others

we can not build up to 100 gas plants in nigeria alone. does not make sense

nuclear plants have their disadvantages just like gas plants as well but we need it to move forward

in nigeria, we do not have natural disasters like hurricane or earthqua

all we have are people that can make errors

but that all we need to avoid and this can be easlly done by careful planning and the grace of Allah

ndu_chucks:

haba aboki na! Do you want to break my ribs?

nah

tpiah!:

so which first world country do you know without nuclear power.

That is not really relevant. More important to look at what %age of their power is generated from nuclear. Anyway, Nigeria is a 3rd world country right now, so has different needs from a 1st world one.

You can probably do 500 GW of electricity from just natural gas. I don't know, I've not done the calculations. We are only at 4 GW right now. How about we worry about going nuclear 50 or 100 years from now when we are at 500 GW?

alj uche:

Every day in southern Nigeria, almost 2 mn cubic feet of natural gas is burnt during crude oil production, more than is flared anywhere else in the world. In fact, Nigeria is endowed with the tenth largest proven natural gas reserves, and according to the World Bank, gas flared in Nigeria is equivalent to total annual power generation in sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol13no1/gas.htm

And this is just the gas flared alone! No new exploration.

ekt_bear:

alj uche:
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol13no1/gas.htm

And this is just the gas flared alone! No new exploration.

understood

thanls for the link

Give us nuclear power, which in a way can be used as a deterrent.

EzeUche:

Give us nuclear power, which in a way can be used as a deterrent.

You are right. Cameroon may even get so frightened and give Bakassi back, just because we have a nuclear power plant!

nuclear power is extremely expensive. to the point that it needs a well developed space program just to dispose the waste. Even the US is re-thinking the option.

it's not about natural disasters, its about efficiency and cost

nigeria is on top of an ocean of gas, has constant sunlight, has proven and vast coal mines, and so forth,
these areas where we have a comparative advantage remain untouched and we're looking at nuclear which will cost more, take more time to build, and make us more vulnerable militarily

We have enough gas to sustain us all till we can find an alternative. Make no mistake about that. That is as sure as 1+1=2. Think about it, we even have far more gas than oil. Just to let you know how large our reserves are, we are No. 8 globally ahead of Venezuela, Iraq, China, Libya etc.   No need to argue that fact.

If you are following Fukushima, you will agree 100% with the government. Right now, the costs (time and resources included) for any greenfield (new-build) nuclear project are exceptionally high. Insurance costs alone will make any nuclear project unreasonable. The expertise and licence requirements have skyrocketted. The worst part is the safety risk. We have to forget about nuclear for at least 5 years. It is not only a Nigerian problem, it is global. Until practical control solutions are developed, we cannot go that way anytime soon.

Gas and coal are easier to develop and will take even shorter time. We have all the manpower needs, we have the experience, we have companies on ground. A lot of these projects are actually running already. We have places in Nigeria with 100% power availability supplied by gas plants. With a mix of several energy sources (excluding nuclear), we can achieve all we need to achieve within the time it will take to build a nuclear plant in today's world.

I agree that the Nuclear Plant should be located in the middle of a busy commercial hub in Eastern Nigeria. . . . . .

The useless minister and people clamoring for nuclear power will be the first to jet out of the country when something goes wrong, Nigeria has more than enough gas to meet our energy requirements, but then there is still coal, hydro, solar and wind. We should stop deceiving ourselves that one resource or the other is responsible for our power predicament. Corruption is responsible. Think of the businesses that will close shop when there is constant power supply. Diesel and generator marketers

of all my criticisms of Goodluck, this is a sensible decision at this stage of our development, when we cant even manage coal fired plants

Alj Uche:

why can't they put a nuclear power plant in the east so as to create jobs for the youths over there

LOL!

This is funny, mehn!

jason123:

LOL!

This is funny, mehn!

I think its plain stupid

blink182:

I think its plain silly

C'mon, its a sarcastic joke. Where is your sense of humour?? I am sure he did not mean it in a bad way.

jason123:

C'mon, its a sarcastic joke. Where is your sense of humour?? I am sure he did not mean it in a bad way.

Don't know what is wrong with me, these days I don't see a joke in anything. Guess its election fever.

Abeg ooo, we no want nuclear again. Japan don show us how e dey be.

mr.official:

Abeg ooo, we no want nuclear again. Japan don show us how e dey be.

Men, that shit is scary. Radiation has already reached America. If they build it here and it malfunctions. There won't be patriotic citizens that will sacrifice themselves to minimize the effect. It will be disastrous.

GEJ has just lost us again another deposit, after the one lost during the cancellation for the renovation of the Nigerian rails network.

blink182:

Men, that poo is scary. Radiation has already reached America. If they build it here and it malfunctions. There won't be patriotic citizens that will sacrifice themselves to minimize the effect. It will be disastrous.

Yes ooo. Even with the one happening in Japan, the whole world is at risk, 'cos the radiation will not disappear, I believe. Then talk of building our own, when e scatter, we go hear am. Especially in a country wey nobody won die.