Apparently raising the stakes in the largely opaque quest to generate useful, instead of political electricity in the country, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) is currently holding talks with Russia’s Rosatom Corporation to build four nuclear power plants costing about $20 billion (about N3.9 trillion) projected to output 4,800 megawatts (mw) of electricity. It could be recalled that on September 15, 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan formally inaugurated NAEC and tasked its members headed by Mr. Erepamo Osaisai to quickly evolve implementable plans, and timelines for the delivery of atomic energy for peaceful purposes in the country.
NAEC was established in 1976 to investigate the development of nuclear energy but little progress was made. It was reactivated in 2006 and Jonathan appointed a new team in 2011 led by Osasai. According to NAEC chairman Osaisai, the plants will be co-financed by Rosatom, which is expected to build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) them to the government. He noted the preliminary licensing of the approved sites is expected by the end of 2016 from the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), which is currently developing the licences’ procedures.
Clearly this scenario has linkages with last week’s announcement by the Federal Government that it has selected Geregu and Itu in Kogi and Akwa Ibom States respectively as the sites for building two nuclear power plants in Nigeria envisaged to generate a total of 2,400 megawatts. This significant development was unfolded in a presentation by NAEC’s Osaisai, at the plenary of the Phase 2 Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission in Abuja. An obviously elated NAEC boss disclosed that part of his agency’s progress is the concluded preliminary site selection activities and “detailed evaluation and characterization to be conducted on preferred sites on the approval of government in Geregu, Ajaokuta Local Government Area of kogi State and Itu in Itu LGA of Akwa Ibom State.”
In what could pass for a fundamental recognition of the dangers of fooling with the atom, NAEC declared that training and capacity building for constructing and operating the plants are ongoing while it has developed a framework to establish a ‘National Nuclear Insurance Policy and Scheme’ to “adequately address the civil liability component for the nuclear power industry in conformity with the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.” Meanwhile, as all this ‘hard-work’ on behalf of Nigeria is going on, the Deputy Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mikhail Chudakov, who led the agency’s delegation on a two-week trip to Nigeria, gave what could pass for a friendly warning that Nigeria should be prepared to take adequate responsibility for the safety culture and for safe operation of a nuclear power in the country.
Clearly, ex-President Jonathan’s move represented a legitimate aspiration. But beyond good intent, the implications of this initiative of exploiting the nuclear option which the President Muhammadu Buhari administration appears bent on inheriting, should be given far more thought than currently appears to be the case. While the apparent sincerity in pushing this course can hardly be contested, the related facts certainly can and should be questioned. Clearly, there is an alluring prestige in being counted as a member of the world’s nuclear powers, whether it is for peaceful or military use.
But certain key background facts need to be factored into the big picture. Nigeria has the world’s seventh-largest natural gas reserves, yet the nation is blighted by persistent electricity outages which force businesses and individuals who can afford them to rely on generators. Much of this vast gas reserves sit untouched under the ground or are flared into the sky. Despite being Africa’s biggest crude oil exporter, decades of corruption and mismanagement mean Nigeria has never built the infrastructure to farm its huge oil and gas resources for much-needed domestic use.
Deficits in our existing institutions remain a defining albatross on the path to meaningful development. Cut to the bone, this scenario suggests that Nigeria currently lacks the indigenous capacity, supporting infrastructure, discipline and security wherewithal to build and manage an atomic power plant.
Bringing other foreign countries that are essentially pushing their business interests will not suffice. It simply is another way of courting disaster – one we cannot manage. Nuclear power has faced increased opposition in some nations since an earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear facility in March. Chernobyl-type technology, where Rosatom comes from, will not do. Today, going green is the trend. Nigeria should explore and exploit other safer, rational energy mix options.
These include solar, gas, hydro, wind, tidal, bio-gas and coal options. Nigeria has these resources in stupendous quantities. A presidential directive requesting timelines for the generation of electricity through these options is a far better option than courting an atomic disaster.
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