Nigeria’s President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is looking at nuclear energy to meet the ever growing power demands in the country. Yar’Adua is exploring the possibility of acquiring, in the long-term, a nuclear program for power generation with the help of France.
“In a joint communiqué adopted by President Yar’Adua and President Nicolas Sarkozy of French Republic, recently in France both of them agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy, which is an area of priority for Nigeria,” the Leadership said quoting a source from the office of the presidency.
According to a joint communiqué, France will give careful consideration to Nigeria’s request in this area. “Both sides decided to consider, with due respect to contractual international obligation, particularly within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the conditions for the implementation of such a project, notably with regard to safety," the presidency source added.
This is not Nigeria’s first quest for nuclear energy; the country began its quest almost three decades ago with the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission Decree in 1976 which, following a series of amendments, gave birth to the Energy Commission of Nigeria. In 2004 the Nigeria Nuclear Research Reactor, dubbed NNRR-1, was commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The NNRR-1 is in line with international regulations.