Leadership (Abuja)
21 April 2008
Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) yesterday in Abuja said it had evacuated three high-risk radioactive sources from the country.
Director-general, Prof. Shamsideen Elegba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the evacuation was carried out in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Elegba said the sources found in Vom near Jos, Ibadan and Lagos were harmful and its non-evacuation posed serious threats to people in the areas.
He said that although the sources were not useful, they were brought into the country before the establishment of NNRA.
He noted that the source at Vom was acquired by the Institute for Veterinary Research for a project on the sterilisation of male fly to curtail the spread of sleeping sickness.
"The project was abandoned, leaving the radioactive source behind.
"The source was discovered after the fire that gutted the research facilities and the need to urgently evacuate it arose.
"But the ministry of agriculture complained of lack of budgetary allocation for the evacuation, hence the involvement of IAEA," he said.
He added that NNRA had established strong regulatory framework for the monitoring of radioactive sources in the country.
"The rules now make it mandatory for any organisation bringing in radioactive source to sign an undertaking of returning it to its country of origin upon completion of its assignment," he said. (NAN)
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