Russia’s state-owned Rosatom and Nigeria have signed agreements for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant and research centre, according to a statement from Rosatom yesterday.
“The development of nuclear technologies will allow Nigeria to strengthen its position as one of the leading countries of the African continent,” Anton Moskvin, Rosatom’s vice president for overseas marketing and business development.
Experts say nuclear energy is economically competitive and environmentally safer, has low operational cost and long life spans, making it a viable alternative for long-term energy security, especially for Nigeria searching for solutions to its intractable energy problem.
Charles Dokubo, researcher at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in an earlier comment, dispels fears associated with nuclear energy. “Inasmuch as nuclear reactors are very dangerous human beings have developed ways of managing them even countries that are even less stable than Nigeria has got their nuclear reactors working for decades so I doubt that Nigeria would be incapable of managing nuclear technology.
“Also the plants will come with a dedicated maintenance professionals as part of the deal and a nuclear reactor is refilled every 18 months so it will handled by them. “
The President accepted their recommendations and directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to align the NAEC programme with overall national policy on power, create a regulatory framework and consider various options for raising the amounts required for funding the planned nuclear plants. The proposal never saw the light of day.
Nigeria has a research reactor at Ahmadu Bellow University in Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigerian Research Reactor-1 (NRR-1), which is used for training purposes and is powered by enriched uranium. It was built by the Chinese and commissioned in 2004 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo
In 2012, Nigeria signed a deal with Russia’s Rosatom Corp to build four nuclear power plants at Geregu, Kogi and Itu, Akwa Ibom state for $80 billion on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement which is still not delivered.
The earlier the agreement was to cooperate on the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the facility. A further three nuclear plants were planned, taking total capacity to 4,800 megawatts by 2035, with each facility costing $20 billion. The first Nigerian plant is billed to be operational in 2025. It is not immediately clear if this agreement is a different one.
