ROSATOM dismisses Nigeria’s nuclear energy ambition

Jose Bastos, head, Technical and Infrastructure Department, Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) has said that Nigeria is yet to record a remarkable success in nuclear energy production and further improve electricity supply.

Bastos who stated this at the recent Atomexpo International Conference/Exhibitions, in Sochi, Russia, Nigeria’s declaration of interest to produce nuclear energy is not matched with a reasonable level of commitment, adding that the country will with time sort out issues that are hindering it from becoming one of the producers of nuclear energy in the world.

The country produces less than 5,000 megawatts (Mw) of electricity, which are not enough to increase socio-economic activities nationwide. The Federal Government is exploring the nuclear energy option for growth.

Bastos said, many countries, including Nigeria have approached ROSATOM to help in producing nuclear energy for their citizens, stressing that they were at different levels of investing in nuclear energy production in their countries.

Bastos said: “There are three stages in participating in nuclear energy programme. The stages are known as phases, as evident by the desires of each country to engage in energy mix through production of nuclear power. The first stage is known as consideration stage, as its shows the intention of a country to generate nuclear energy for its people. The second stage is a stage where a big investment is made to generate nuclear energy while the third one is a stage in which nuclear power projects are implemented.”

Countries in the first group, Bastos said, are showing readiness to go into nuclear energy priduction, but have many issues to contend with.

He said one of the issues has to do with the national position on the provision of nuclear energy.

He added that countries in the first stage are volatile, a development, which has made it difficult for those countries to carry along all the stakeholders that are involved in the generation, distribution and transmission of electricity to their people.

Bastos noted that Nigeria falls between the first and the second categories, going by the decision of the country to go into nuclear energy programme, coupled with its commitment to have two nuclear power cited in two out of its 36 states.