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Russia To Build Four 1200-MW Nuclear Plants in Nigeria
15 April 2015
EIRNS — Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Franklin Erepamo Osaisai said at a conference in Kenya’s Kwale coastal region today, that Nigeria has signed an agreement with Russia’s Rosatom to build four 1200-MW nuclear power plants. "A joint coordination committee is in place, and negotiations are ongoing for financing and contracting. We are meticulously implementing our plans," Osaisai said. The first nuclear plant is scheduled to be operational in 2025. The plants will be financed by the vendor, which will then build, own, operate, and transfer them to the government, Osaisai added. " Nigeria’s peak electricity output is about 3,800 megawatts, with another 1,500 megawatts unavailable because of gas shortages, International Business Times reported today. Nigeria has a nuclear research reactor located at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna state. The Nigeria Research Reactor-1 is used for training purposes and is powered by enriched uranium. NIRR-1, which was built by the Chinese, was commissioned in 2004 during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. In other Nigerian collaboration with BRICS nations, last November a Chinese company signed a $12 billion railroad construction deal, in what was China’s biggest-ever overseas contract. In addition, Nigeria purchased military equipment from Russia to be able to confront the Boko Harem insurgency, after Nigeria has been turned down by the Obama Administration. Ramtanu Maitra and Douglas Degroot |
