Nuclear Power Plants: Atomic Energy Commission, Power Ministry Begin Collab

Establishment of nuclear power plants is top on the agenda of a planned collaboration between the Nigerian Ministry of Power and the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, (NAEC).

In fact, the ministry is of the view that nuclear energy is the next and best way for the country to go, in the midst of unsatisfactory levels of energy generation in the country.

The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu gave vent to the collaboration in the course of a meeting in Abuja with the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Anthony Ekedewa

He spoke amidst shortfalls in energy generation, averaging 5, 000 megawatts for a burgeoning Nigerian population of over 230 million people

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Should Nigerian go the way of nuclear power plants, it would have succeeded in solving her energy challenge, the minister said in a statement.

“This is an area that States can benefit from. A lot of investment has gone into the development of the commission over the years and Nigeria should start reaping from the investment”, he stated, adding:

“I wish we are there already in this country, but we are not there yet. We should however ask ourselves, how much of the conventional source of energy have we exploited? Nuclear power plant tends to be at the lower end of concern over the years, but we have to understand that nuclear energy is the future of energy generation”, he added.

Nuclear power plants come with associated technologies, and this would further help the course of the country’s science and technology development the minister added.

Rather than the establishment of of 4 four power plants with capacity to generate 1200 MW each, he however suggested the establishment of modular nuclear reactor as the best way to go about the whole thing.

Providing a background earlier, Ekedawa underscored the importance of nuclear power plants as according to him, nuclear energy could power the entire country, hence the Commission was proposing the establishment of nuclear power plants with the capacity to generate about 1200MW.

Referencing a feasibility study that had already been done on the project, he stated: “We can be a base load for the country and we have two possible sites, Geregu in Kogi State and Idu in Akwa Ibom State.

“We have carried out the feasibility studies. This collaboration is part of our energy policy, but we are however limited by resources to undertake this project”, Ekedewa said.