Nuclear power plant
The Nigerian Government has demonstrated commitment to introduce
nuclear power into its energy mix to boost electricity generation in the
country.
Mr Dmitry Shornikov, an expert and Chief Executive Officer, Russian
State Nuclear Energy Corporation (ROSATOM), said this in an interview
text emailed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
According him, Nigeria is most certainly following all the correct steps required to be ready for nuclear power production.
“The Nigerian Government has shown firm commitment to introduce nuclear power into its energy mix.
“As part of the government’s programme to deploy nuclear power
plants for electricity generation in the country, the Nigeria Atomic
Energy Commission was activated in April 2006.
“One of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
guidelines for newcomer countries envisages assistance to adapt national
energy grids for special requirements of reliability and safety.
“If a country that wants to develop nuclear programme does not
have adequate grid infrastructure, it should follow the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines in order to rectify this.
“In the summer of 2015, the IAEA conducted two missions to Nigeria in support of its nuclear programme.
“These missions found that Nigeria’s emergency preparedness and
response framework was consistent with IAEA safety standards, and that
the country needed to further refine its policies and strengthen
capacities on the management on nuclear initiatives.”
NAN recalls that Nigeria started developing its peaceful nuclear
programme a decade ago and ROSATOM has been working with Nigeria for
roughly half of this time.
A great deal has already been done in terms of the legal framework
and educating specialists, both of which are part of the nuclear
infrastructure development programme.
The two countries started their partnership in nuclear power
development in 2009, by executing an intergovernmental agreement on
cooperation in the field of the peaceful usage of nuclear technologies.
On Oct. 30, 2017, Russia and Nigeria signed project development
agreements on construction and operation of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)
and a Research Centre housing a multi-purpose nuclear research reactor
on the territory of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The parties also signed a roadmap for cooperation in the field of peaceful usage of nuclear technologies.
Dmitry, overseeing Central and Southern Africa of ROSATOM, said it
was important for Nigeria to harness all available energy mix, including
nuclear to improve its power generation, given the huge demand for
electricity supply in the country.
“Today, Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, however, its
power sector is performing far below the level of an economy of this
magnitude.
“Over half of the population has no access to grid-connected
electricity and those who are connected to the grid suffer extensive
power outages.
“Nigeria’s current installed capacity is estimated at around
12,500 MW, only half of this is operational, and only about 5,000 MW
reaches the grid.
“Restricted output has been blamed on gas supply problems, water shortages, grid constraints and breakdowns.
“Existing energy mix in Nigeria is made up mostly of hydro and
gas turbine power plants and will certainly benefit from the addition of
sustainable base load generation.
“There are three important factors that should be considered
when designing the optimum energy mix, this include economics, security
of supply and environmental impact.
“Nuclear is one of the only power sources that is capable of
producing all the three factors and is, therefore, crucial to help
balance any energy mix,” Dmitry explained.
He said ROSATOM was committed to assisting Nigeria archive its nuclear energy production ambition.
Dmitry, however, said skills development was a key requirement in
Nigeria getting ready for the development and running of nuclear energy
plants, adding that ROSATOM was willing to further assist in
developing the needed skills.
“Since 2010, ROSATOM has been running a project on training staff for partner countries.
“The project is aimed at supporting the partner country in
creating an integrated system for training qualified specialists for the
nuclear power industry.
“From highly professional construction, installation and
operating staff to providing the most modern specialised university
education and retraining of executives, both for nuclear power and
national regulatory authorities in the nuclear sphere.
He disclosed that 17 students from Nigeria were presently studying
in Russia, adding that Nigeria was part of special ROSATOM’s bursary
programme on free education for talented students.
According to him, ROSATOM will give its best to support development
of science in Nigeria which remains a veritable key to further develop
the country.
-NAN