In order to address Nigeria’s intractable power crises, experts have advised the Federal Government to encourage investments in nuclear energy technology to ease power challenges.
Nigeria’s national grid with an installed capacity of 6,000 megawatt (mw) can only generate 4,000mw at its peak but currently generates less than 2,000 mw due to pipeline vandalism, gas shortages, weak transmission lines and irregular water supply to hydroelectric power plants causing disruption in supply lines.
Experts say these factors make a strong case for nuclear energy. In their view, it is economically competitive and environmentally safer, has low operational cost and long life spans, making it a viable alternative for long-term energy security.
Charles Dokubo, researcher at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs tells BusinessDay, “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. “
Ike Mowete, professor of Electrical Electronics at the University of Lagos also tells BusinessDay: “if you are talking in terms of the scientific knowhow, I think we are ready. My understanding is that the sector is very heavily regulated by the United Nations agency for nuclear energy and the technology has come of age. So if we adhere to standards and get funding, I don’t see why Nigeria cannot use nuclear energy.”
Dokubo blamed inconsistencies of government policy as a problem nothing that if the right policies have been in place, Nigeria would have had a crop of scientist capable of using nuclear technology.
In 2008 when Nigeria’s foreign reserve hit $49 billion, the Directors-General of Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) and the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) met with late president Umaru Yaradua and urged him to include nuclear energy in the long-term resolution of Nigeria’s power supply gap.
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.
Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Franklin Erepamo Osaisai said 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.
NEAC has said that training and capacity building for the construction and operation of the plants are ongoing. Following the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, NEAC said it has established a national nuclear insurance policy to address civil liability issues.
According to Synapse Energy Economics Incorporated, the construction estimates for new nuclear power plant was in the range of $5,500/kW or between $6 billion for each 1,100 mw plant, two times the cost of Nigeria’s 2013 privatisation of power assets. Experts say the cost have significantly increased now.
However there are concerns about safety. Akwa Ibom State Leaders Caucus has rejected plans to site the plant in Itu, Local government area on account of disasters which the failure of nuclear plants.
According to International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) report, there are 435 nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries.
Nuclear energy plants have been responsible for five serious accidents in the world since 1970 – Three Mile Island, in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and three at Fukushima-Daiich in 2011, an average of one serious accident every eight years.
Patrick Moore, founder of Greenpeace says, “Nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels, and satisfy global demand.”
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently stated that to stabilise the present levels of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, a 50-80 percent reduction in greenhouse emission sis required.
ISAAC ANYAOGU
