Benefits of Nigeria’s uranium resources
A vital aspect of the change needed to
move Nigeria forward is the diversification of its resources. Far too
much attention has been paid to oil while many more resources remain
untapped; uranium is one of them. Nigeria is endowed with strategic
reserves of the mineral which can boost the contributions of the solid
minerals subsector to the economy. Occurrences of uranium have been
discovered in North-eastern states of Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba; as
well as in Plateau, Kano and Cross River States.
Uranium accounts for an estimated 12 per
cent of the electricity generated from nuclear reactors globally.
Uranium is a far cheaper, environmentally friendly and more efficient
source of electricity than fossil fuels. Countries like Belgium,
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, South Korea,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine source at least 30
per cent of their electricity requirements from nuclear reactors. The
USA operates 100 reactors that supply a fifth of its electricity, while
France gets 75 per cent of its electricity from uranium. In Africa,
Niger, Namibia and South Africa account for 18 per cent of world annual
production of the mineral. Uranium is only traded amongst countries that
are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which mandates
international inspection to ensure that it is only utilised for peaceful
purposes.
There is a lot of hue and cry over
recent government mention of the need to include uranium in the nation’s
energy mix. The anxieties have been premised on safety considerations
but it is important to note that uranium exploration is not new to
Nigeria. Nigerian uranium development programme began in 1976 but
started collapsing by 1989 when Total pulled out of its 40 per cent
part-ownership of the Nigerian Uranium Mining Company. Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo had gathered some substructure to reignite that
pursuit on his return as a democratically elected President but he left
office before an actual takeoff. The roadmap he designed had anticipated
that Nigeria would generate 1000 megawatts of electricity from Uranium
by 2017. It remains an idea that can generate employment, provide
services and augment the nation’s ailing economy. In the area of safety,
as required by international standards, Nigeria already has in place a
Nuclear Regulatory Agency headed by a world-renowned nuclear Physicist,
Professor Lawrence Anikwe Dim. The effort to put to use the nation’s
nuclear endowments is therefore not out of place as it will create jobs
for specialised professionals and could even create room for those of
them who are stuck abroad because there are no opportunities in their
field to come home and build our nuclear resources.
Understandably, we dread the mention of
nuclear reactor, irradiation and its other isotopes because of nuclear
accidents that have occurred in some countries in the past and the
dangerous consequences of its misapplications. It is arguably one of
man’s most dangerous discoveries yet. However, unknown to most of us, we
benefit each day from what we believe to be inherently deadly as
radiation has found application in numerous fields including water
detection, medicine, agriculture, food technology, materials processing,
nuclear energy and even environmental protection. Yes, science and
technology has enabled us to outflank the sour side of nuclear radiation
and advance its peaceful uses. We need not remain skeptical; we need to
join the rest of the world in the march to utilise nuclear resources
for sustainable development.
Next to energy on the list of global
priorities is food security particularly for underdeveloped countries
where it is important that what little food is available should last as
long as possible. This is also another area where nuclear technology has
come to the rescue of modern society. It is useful in agriculture for
soil fertility mapping and production of gamma rays with which to
irradiate foods and extend their shelf life. Irradiation technology has
been approved in about 40 countries for over 60 types of foods. The
Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission, NAEC has installed a Gamma
Irradiation Facility at the Nuclear Technological Centre, Sheda Abuja as
a multipurpose industrial plant to serve small scale and medium
enterprises.
Auspiciously, NAEC signed a MoU with
the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria to
promote the use of nuclear technology in food preservation in 2009.
Through the facility at Sheda, food spices can be irradiated to destroy
the harmful microbes in them; onions and seeds are also treated to
prevent sprouting and can delay the ripening of mangoes, tomatoes,
pawpaw for up to two weeks while keeping produce like beans, yam,
potatoes, well through the year without spoilage. It is therefore
invaluable in solving the economic problem of post-harvest losses and
keeps foods well for export. The imported mangoes, apples, etc. we eat
are kept fresh through radiation technology.
In Nigeria, where electricity poverty
has been the bane of industry for decades, our current quest for nuclear
energy is long overdue. These developments should be of interest to
today’s discerning entrepreneur who must seek, embrace and utilise the
proceeds of R&D to create new wealth. The private sector must now
take more than a cursory interest in the utilisation of the nation’s
nuclear resources. It is no longer enough to engage in primary
production. Contemporary entrepreneurship must deploy the tools of
science and technology to stay competitive and earn more through value
addition to natural resources.
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