The Director General of the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), Dr Yau Idris, has assured Nigerians of the security of nuclear and other radioactive material in Nigeria.
The NNRA boss informed me that Nigeria has, over the years, had several reviews and drafts as relate to the issue of transporting radioactive material in the country.
However, the workshop is to get a feed back from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the recent draft sent to them.
He stated that the ultimate end is to have a perfect document for use and regulation of transport radioactive material in the country through regulatory control programmes.
Represented by the General Manager Administration Human Resources, NNRA, Mr Mattias Vyonku, Dr Idris stated this at the opening of the four days National Workshop On The Review Of The Draft Nigerian Transport Security Of Radioactive Material Regulations, today in Abuja.
Dr Idris stated that it is worth to mention that Nigeria has been collaborating with the IAEA in the implementation of the activities contained in the INSSP since 2010 and this is aimed at developing an effective and sustainable nuclear security regime through provision of a comprehensive framework for reviewing the nuclear security regimes, identifying areas that need to be strengthened and highlighting any assistance needed.
Speaking further he informed that one of the components of the 2016 and 2019 Nigerian INSSP Implementation Plan under functional area 3(D) was for Nigeria to review and consolidate the relevant provisions in Nigeria transport security regulations in line with the Nuclear Security Series No. 9 (NSS 9) – Implementing Guide on Security in the Transport of Radioactive Material.
“Following the INSSP Mission, the NNRA in collaboration with the IAEA organized a five-day National Workshop on “Transport Security Regulations for Radioactive Material in Nigeria” in November 2019 to make the transport security components of the draft reviewed Nigeria Safety and Security of Radioactive Material Regulations a stand-alone Regulations. This led to the development of the “Draft Nigerian Transport Security of Radioactive Material Regulations” in 2022 which has been reviewed by the IAEA and corrections, comments and recommendations captured appropriately.
“Additionally, Nigeria concluded its first International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) Mission in July 2023 and Transport Security was one of the Modules reviewed during the Mission”. he concluded.
On his remark, Mr Jinho Chung, Division of Nuclear Security, IAEA, informed that NNRA submitted a developed a regulation on transport security to IAEA and after thorough review on the aspect of legal , technical point of view, through this workshop they will provide NNRA their feedback on legal and technical aspects and also try to consolidate and finalize the draft regulations.
Mr Chung stated that “Nigeria has been able to queue into the protocol especially in handling radioactive materials, actually from the reviews, we realized that Nigeria’s current regulation has high standard compared to the international recommendations and guidance”.
Also delivering his remark, Mr David Ladsous, Institute Of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, France, stated that the regulation will make sure that radioactive material is safely used, wether in the medical application, peaceful application or industry application.
“To use radioactive materials you need to transport them from the hospital, airport, harbor and it is really important to make sure there is no risk in the transport. For this regulations, the main focus is to protect the material against malicious acts, terrorists, advisories trying to take and misuse the material against the population and it is okay to say that Nigeria’s regulations is at the top level in the region.”
Delivery his goodwill message, the Inspector General of Police, represented by DSP Ekwo Samuel, informed EOD officers were trained by NNRA on use and maintenance of radiation regulation equipments.