Iran to share nuclear technology with Nigeria

Iran to share nuclear technology with Nigeria Written by Hector Igbikiowubo Agency reports Tuesday, 09 September 2008 FEDERAL Government recently moved a step closer to obtaining nuclear energy following an understanding with the Iranian government which would see the later share its technology with Nigeria for the purposes of electricity generation. .While explaining the terms of the deal, Tijjani Kaura, a senior Nigerian foreign ministry official said the technology was not for any military use. The agreement was announced after a four_day meeting between Iranian and Nigerian officials in Abuja.Details of the deal were not announced, so it is unclear what technology Iran would provide to Nigeria.When contacted, Shamsideen Elegba, Director General of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) said only the foreign ministry can comment on details of the deal.He noted that before any technical agreement could be reached, there has to be a political understanding between both nations, adding that the deal that has been reached amounts to an ‘understanding’.President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua recently said the country may have to develop the capacity to utilize nuclear power for power generation to alleviate Nigeria’s chronic shortfalls in electricity production.“Who knows, nuclear power may be the only source of energy in the future, and we must think of the future,” Yar’Adua told Nigerian lawmakers. However, bringing nuclear power to Nigeria isn’t going to be simple. The country faces many obstacles, according to Jon Wolfsthal, a non_proliferation fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington.“Countries with primitive energy infrastructures (like Nigeria) have a long way to go towards having a productive nuclear power generator,” Wolfsthal told UPI.Nigeria’s power grid is considered primitive by international standards and would have to be upgraded to be compatible with a nuclear energy source, he said.“When you build a nuclear power plant, you have to have something to hook it up to,” he said.Fortunately for Nigeria, the state coffers are awash in oil revenue, having earned more than $300 billion since the 1970s. Wolfsthal noted that other oil-producing nations, such as Iran, have also looked to nuclear energy, as rising global oil prices make the fossil fuel expensive for use at home.Wolfsthal predicted that Nigeria would likely have to shell out somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion for a single light-water reactor that would have to be contracted out to foreign companies. Meanwhile, the cost of constructing an updated power grid for a population of 130 million and growing rapidly would likely be much higher.Nigeria must also procure the raw uranium needed for refinement in a nuclear reactor. The country does have some uranium deposits, though it is unclear whether they would meet the nation’s growing energy needs.Money issues aside, concerns remain whether a country plagued by government corruption and militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta can take on the responsibility of building and operating a nuclear power plant.“Trying to tackle something like nuclear energy that requires a lot of political capital and economic is just not on the table at this time,” Mark Schroeder, a Stratfor analyst for sub-Saharan Africa, told UPI.“Nigeria would need long-term political stability to go nuclear, and I don’t see that happening right now,” he said.Meanwhile, Iran is under sanctions for defying United Nations Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.It insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful and says it has a right to continue uranium enrichment.Iran, also a major oil producer, is due to bring on stream its first nuclear energy station at Bushehr early in 2009.