Leadership (Abuja)
Doris Igyor
9 November 2009
Abuja — In line with the Federal Government's efforts to introduce nuclear power into the Nigerian electricity generation mix, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Alhassan Bako Zaku yesterday at the invite of the National Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), performed the foundation laying ceremony for the construction of a researchers' hostel and the low and intermediate nuclear waste management facility at the Nuclear Technology Centre (NTC), Sheda, Abuja.
According to the minister, "the foundation laying ceremony marks a significant milestone in our national development and sets the pace for the requisite scientific and technological infrastructure towards realising the nation's dream of fully deploying nuclear energy for generating electricity plants and also the application of the technology in food and agriculture, human health as well as in mineral exploration and industry". In this regard, he continued, plans are being made to fully commercialise the Gamma irradiation facility by using it for the preservation of food items, from which the country is expected to make billions of naira.
He added that due to an existing ban on building, he had to write and request permission from the president to be able to build the structures, thus he commended the management and staff of NAEC for recording this modest but significant milestone.
The minister also sounded a note of warning to the contractors handling the projects that no extension of the completion time will be given (48wks). He said the projects must be completed on schedule as the money has already been provided. He further stated that as long as the contractors complete these projects and provide their certificates, they will be paid, adding that there will be no room for variation since the money for the project has been earmarked and will remain so.
He said the contractors must endeavour not to create room for variation. Earlier on, the DG/CEO of the NAEC, Dr. F. Erepamo Osaisai, had stated that the two facilities had already been provided for in the 2009 budget thanking the minister for making the goal a realizable one.
Dr. Osaisai added that the country in the instance of implementing a nuclear power facility needs to build capacity by training people, and this requires the building of such structures. He said that the need to internalise and gradually develop a way of dealing with waste was another reason for building these facilities, adding that since Sheda is far from the city, the workers should have a conducive and comfortable accommodation.
The researchers' hostel has the capacity to house 60 on field and visiting researchers at any given time, an auditorium with a capacity for 250 persons, four large meeting rooms, a lounge, dinning area, an IT centre with teleconferencing facilities and other social service facilities. It is also to contain 36 standard self-contained chalets and 16 executive suites. The waste management facility is a 790m building with a head room of 5.8m.
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