NANFeatures/Vol.12/No.62/2018 (April 25)
Nuclear technology as instrument for peace-making, socio-economic development
A News Analysis by Mohammed Lawal, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Whenever the word “nuclear’’ is mentioned to people who don’t understand its scientific benefits, they think of explosion, war, bomb-making or an ingredient of instruments for mass destruction.
This belief is somewhat common even among the educated elites, except those with background about nuclear technology.
Observers note that in spite of the level of ignorance about the usefulness of nuclear technology, effort by experts to sensitise the public to its various use and applications is little.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says nuclear technology is not only about bomb but also about promoting socio-economic development of member-states.
IAEA is a recognised body or an agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating, safeguarding and controlling the use of nuclear and nuclear related materials worldwide with a view to ensuring safety use of the materials to avoid inflicting harm on both human and environment.
The agency, established in 1957, has 169 member-states including Nigeria with about 2,500 staff strength located in Vienna with offices in other parts of the world.
Prof. Shaukat Abdul-Razak, Director, Division of Africa, Department of Technical Corporation at IAEA, admitted during a lecture at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, that many people actually misunderstood the concept of nuclear technology.
The lecture, entitled: “Application of Nuclear Science and Technology for Socio-Economic Development of a Country’’, clarified some misconceptions about nuclear technology.
Abdul-Rasak, said: “What we do is to maximise the contributions of nuclear technology to the world, while at the same time verifying its peaceful use.
“We want to emphasise that every time we talk about nuclear science and technology, sometimes people misunderstand the role of the IAEA and only focus on its being a nuclear watchdog.
“But there are so many other things that we do with regards to peaceful use of this technology; we enhance the contributions of nuclear technology towards meeting the sustainable interests and needs of the member-states.’’
According to him, the IAEA does not dictate, but it requests the member-states to come with their projects, identifying their needs and work together to achieve such needs.
“It is important to note that nuclear must be used in a safe and secured manner, so, we put a lot of emphasis on nuclear safety culture.
“Again, there must be an assurance to the international community of the peaceful use of nuclear materials because, if these materials fall into a wrong hand, they can cause more harm than good,’’ he said.
According to him, the nuclear technology is used toward achieving nine goals of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the globe.
“IAEA contributes to SDGs’ achievements; including zero hunger, food and health, clean water, clean and environment conducive for living, among others.
“When we had an outbreak of Ebola virus in western part of Africa; and in quite a number of countries, we swiftly moved in, provided kits and were able to test and diagnosed on the spot rather than waiting for the samples to be taken to the field,’’ he said.
“In Africa, we try to address certain regional vision and one of them is looking at the agenda 2063 of Africa and we also align ourselves to various regional framework’’ he noted.
He said that the agency had a project in which it would identify five basin authorities in the Sahel to determine the amount of water on the ground, using isotope hydrology.
“So, when you hear about nuclear technology, it is not about the bombs, it’s not about what you read in the news, there is more than that.
“There are elements, there are issues, there are lines that directly touch the lives of people and livestock and water is one of them.
“Nuclear is one the green energy that we advocate for, especially now that we have huge challenges of the climate change,’’ he said.
Abdul-Rasak said that the IAEA was working in collaboration among its member-states on how to upgrade nuclear facilities in the continent.
The director advised countries that wanted to go into nuclear power programme to, first of all, make sure that they have the stakeholders, the citizens, the population and public acceptance of nuclear technology.
He also said that such countries must have enough resources and should decide which technology they wanted to use.
“In the area of mining, we also assist countries that have uranium such as Namibia, Niger among others, on how to harness the potential that could be used in nuclear power plants.
Appraising its positive contributions to human existence, Dr Yusuf Ahmed, Director, Centre for Energy Research and Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, advised that nuclear shouldn’t be perceived in a negative way.
“Nuclear is not only about negative but it also has its positive aspect, nuclear affects all aspects of our lives, it goes beyond what we think.
“I want to use this medium to call on Nigerians to explore the opportunity and learn more about nuclear technology to be able to understand both its negative and positive consequences,’’ he said.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)