The Federal Government has commenced moves to generate electricity from
nuclear materials, particularly through the exploration, exploitation
and utilisation of uranium.
To achieve this, the government
invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct a
week training for nuclear practitioners and security officers in the
country on the extraction, exploitation and utilisation of the
substance.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the National
Training Course on Nuclear Security for the Uranium Extraction Industry
in Abuja, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi,
stated that it was important for Nigeria to exploit available resources
in order to meet its power needs.
Fayemi, who was represented by
a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr. Wuyep Karnap, said, “Last week
at the National Council on Power conference in Kaduna, the issue of
uranium for power generation was actually canvassed as a vital component
in the energy mix equation.
“So this training is coming at the
right time where capacity to explore, exploit and utilise uranium for
power generation and other uses cannot be overemphasised. And apart from
the exploration, exploitation and utilisation, the security and health
aspect of uranium needs to be taken care of, and that is why we have
security delegates here.”
In March, the Federal Government
announced that it was working towards generating 4,000 megawatts of
electricity using nuclear energy.
It stated that the plan was to
start a programme in the coming years that will give the country 1,000MW
in the first instance, which will be increased to 4,000MW thereafter.
This,
according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, was disclosed during a
meeting President Muhammadu Buhari had with the Director-General of IAEA
, Mr. Yukiya Amano, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The
Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, NNRA, Prof. Lawrence Dim, told
journalists that the latest training would expose participants on how
to improve uranium for power generation, as the country does not have
the required technology to do that at
the moment.
When asked if
it was now safe to explore the nuclear substance across the country, Dim
replied, “Uranium exploration in Nigeria is quite safe. We have not had
any cause to find out that there is any high level of radiation or
exposure relating to that.
“The issue is that the uranium we get
in our soil is the natural uranium; although it has radioactive
material, the concentration is low. So we don’t have any situation where
the level of radiation coming out from it is detected to be harmful.”
He
added, “This course is also to enlighten our people on the implication
of uranium mining. For if somebody gets a substantial part of uranium
that will trigger security concern. So we have developed regulations and
have gazetted them to practitioners to serve as a guide in the usage
and movement of uranium materials.”
The Senior Nuclear Security
Officer, IAEA, Mr Robert Larsen, stated that the exploration of uranium
in Nigeria does not pose any threat to global security.
“I don’t
think so; I have no reason to believe that at all. As a matter of fact I
believe Nigeria is a good nuclear partner and that is why the agency is
here to see how we can assist in uranium extraction,” he said.
