NNRA Secures Two-year EU Grant for Nuclear Safety Cooperation Project in NigeriaNNRA Secures Two-year EU Grant for Nuclear Safety Cooperation Project in Nigeria

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA)  yesterday announced that it had secured a grant from the European Union (EU) for its nuclear safety cooperation project in the country.

A statement by the Head, Information and Protocol Unit, NNRA, Mrs Ekaette Bassey, stated that this followed the visit of nuclear safety experts to Abuja to discuss the commencement of the European Instrument for International Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC).

The project, the NNRA said, would help in enhancing the regulatory framework for nuclear safety in Nigeria.

The EU Experts, it said, were in Nigeria to interact with their counterparts in NNRA on the modalities for the implementation of the first bilateral cooperation project on nuclear safety and the safe management of radioactive waste in-country to be supported by a grant from the EU.

In his opening remarks at the event, the Director General of the NNRA, Dr. Yau Idris, while commending the EU, said the grant covered a period of two years from October 1, 2023 to September 31, 2025.

He indicated that the implementation of the project will be closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure compliance with international best practices and regulations.  Idris stated that part of the grant is meant for the NNRA to implement some aspects of the IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission.

According to him, the IAEA sent a team of 12 senior nuclear regulatory experts from 11 countries and three of its staff to Nigeria to review the country’s radiation and nuclear safety regulatory framework and activities against relevant IAEA safety standards and international nuclear safety treaties.

The DG also indicated that recently, in July 2023, the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission to Nigeria.

“The mission made up of eight international experts from the United States, France, Argentina, Indonesia, Romania, Lebanon, Slovakia and Pakistan together with NNRA staff and with the assistance of the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) visited facilities with high risk nuclear and radioactive material.

“These included the Nigeria Nuclear Research Reactor (NiRR-1) located at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

 “The goal was to assess Nigeria’s compliance with the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and its 2005 amendment, code of conduct on the safety and security of radioactive sources as well as the relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Series (NSS) publications,” Idris added.

According to the statement, both IAEA missions concluded that Nigeria through the NNRA had established an excellent nuclear safety and security regime that is in the process of being significantly improved through the update of legislative and regulatory framework and other ongoing initiatives.

Key issues requiring urgent attention, it said, are the passage of the NNRA bill and presidential assent as well as the provision of a permanent headquarters office.

“The EU chose the NNRA for the project based on several positive reports by all the IAEA missions to Nigeria and its leadership in Africa as regards nuclear regulatory activities and competence.

“The project will focus on capacity development and training, enhancing regulatory framework for nuclear safety and ensuring that Nigeria implements the recommendation of all the IAEA missions in respect to its regulatory infrastructure,” it stressed.

The EU team of experts was drawn from the Finland Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) and some Technical Support Organizations (TSO) such as the Austrian nuclear safety and CBRN-E security Consultants (ENCO) and the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) TSO (Bel V).

The DG of the NNRA, Idris, is currently both the Chairman of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) 5th Bureau of Conference of States Parties and the Chairperson of the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA).