Image
courtesy of www.theecologist.org
It is no longer news that the country is looking at
generating power from Nuclear energy and it is on that basis that this article
stems forth.
Nuclear energy being one the fastest means of power
generation is not only expensive but unsafe and unstable. In developed
countries where its usage is employed, there are established means of
containment in the event of a nuclear disaster. Having said that, what comes to
one’s mind is the Chernobyl, Three mile Island and Fukushima disasters which
shook the countries they were situated and the world at large.
It is no longer news that there are moves to build nuclear
plants in the country and this I believe should be a thing of concern giving
our poor maintenance culture. We had problems maintaining our refineries here
in the country which saw us importing refined products, something we have been
doing for years and would continue for God-knows-how-long. Now come to think of
it, how would a country that had issues maintaining refineries fare when it
comes to maintaining nuclear power plants.
Let me take us on a little scientific journey on the
workings of a nuclear power plant so we would at least know what we could be
dealing with. Nuclear reactors are based on a scientific process known as
nuclear fission which sees atoms of larger element disintegrate to yield
smaller elements, of course with the emission of energy.
Nuclear power plants are powered by uranium (a type of
radioactive element) which functions by heating up a turbine which produces
electric power. South Africa is one African country where its usage is employed.
What could go wrong with nuclear power?
Radioactive wastes
This I believe should be our main concern as nuclear wastes
could take a lot to contain. This extremely dangerous waste must be looked
after for thousands of years. A little accident could spell doom for a future
generation if it isn’t handled properly. Our maintenance culture again becomes
a thing of worry.
Nuclear radiation
During this process of fission which powers reactors like
breeders, there is usually a chain reaction which is of a cascade nature and
this could sometimes give rise to Plutonium, an unnatural element which when
released into nature could pose serious hazardous problems.
Preferred targets for
terrorist attacks
Movies and books have
taught us that nuclear plants are hot targets for militants and terrorist
organizations.
Nuclear accidents
Accidents do happen and in the event of a nuclear accident,
there could be serious threat to the environment (Fukushima) and also human
life (Chernobyl).
Nuclear experts have been contributing to the discourse and
one of them , Wole Olaoye, who has been covering Nigeria’s nuclear aspiration
for decades warned: “We have security problems in Nigeria right now. And I
don’t want to think of a situation where we will manage the fallout of a
nuclear leakage. With the level of incompetence with which we have treated our
hydro-power stations. I don’t see us managing nuclear power competently and
efficiently.”
Even as sustainable as nuclear energy may appear (although
it is not in its entirety), I am still of the opinion that Nigeria is not yet
ready. Think the textile industries,
power generation and distribution, Ajaokuta steel mill and others in the solid
mineral industry, the car assembly plants, etc. Nuclear energy cannot just be
handled the same way.
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