Tuesday, April 5, 2011

IAEA Warns Africa about Nuclear Ambitions

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director-General Yukiya Amano has issued a warning to Africa about nuclear power while urging renewable energy like wind, solar, and hydropower. Amano addressed the Japanese nuclear situation (Fukushima) in Nairobi where he said that nuclear energy development is reliant upon strong regulatory and environmental safeguards.

“Nuclear power should be availed to developing countries; however, this is a complicated venture that requires extensive training, safety assessment, and other regulatory concerns”, said Amano. He said that it would be in these countries’ best interest to place renewable energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower as a priority over nuclear power exploration.

Nigeria has potentially squashed nuclear power plans as its Minister of State for Power Nuhu Wya said recently at a power conference in Lagos that the safety of the alternative power was in question. "Why do we have to be talking about using nuclear power? If we have so many other sources of energy that are untapped, why do we have to be talking of one that is not readily available and is a long-term development plan?" Wya said.

No comments:

Post a Comment