Russia And Nigeria Sign Agreement On Construction Of Nuclear Plant And Research Centre

31 Oct (NucNet): Russia and Nigeria have signed a number of agreements on the construction and operation of a nuclear power station and a nuclear research centre in the west African country, Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said. The agreements, which were signed on 30 October 2017 during the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century in Abu Dhabi, included also a roadmap for cooperation in the civilian uses of nuclear energy, Rosatom said. According to Rosatom, the feasibility studies for the proposed nuclear power station project and the research centre will cover site screening, a time frame, implementation schedule, and financing schemes. Rosatom did not disclose any details on the nature of the plant’s design, location, and cost. In March 2016, a statement by the office of the Nigerian president said the country will be aiming to have 4 GW of nuclear capacity online by 2030 . The statement said Nigeria wants to start a programme “in the coming years” that will give the country 1 GW in the first instance, to be increased to 4 GW. The statement followed a meeting between the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Earlier reports in Nigerian media said sites had been chosen for the country’s first nuclear power stations in Kogi state in central Nigeria and Akwa Ibom state on the country’s south coast. In 2015, the IAEA carried out a 10-day mission to review the emergency preparedness and response framework in Nigeria. The west African country has no commercial nuclear units yet but operates a low-power research reactor at the Centre for Energy Research and Training at Ahmadu. Russia and Nigeria signed their first intergovernmental agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation in 2009.