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From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
For three days, experts from energy research centres across the country and the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) brainstormed on challenges of nuclear facilities that might lead to emergencies and accidents in the country.
This was at one of the commission’s training workshops after 18 years of operating the nation’s nuclear facilities, targeted at ensuring continuous safety and security of nuclear facilities in Nigeria.
At the end of the workshop, which held at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Zaria, Kaduna State, the experts came up with observations and recommendations.
The workshop was declared open by the chairman/CEO, NAEC, Prof. Yusuf Ahmed, with a tour of some of the nuclear facilities at the training centre.
One of the paper presenters at the workshop, M.O. Oladipo, of CERT, spoke on nuclear safety and security in an emergency, explaining ’emergency’ as a sudden, unexpected situation, which causes the need to take immediate action.
Oladipo noted that emergency could arise as a result of threat to or breach of security, fire outbreak and release of toxic and inflammable gases.
He added that fuel damage, radioactive spills that release radioactivity into buildings could also cause emergency.
He said: “It is a punishable offence not to leave the building and adjacent facilities in an emergency.”
However, the expert disclosed that there were emergency plans for victims, which, according to him, include medical assistance for contaminated persons.
He said arrangements have been made with Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, Zaria, for the treatment of contaminated and uncontaminated injured persons.
Speaking on safety considerations in the event of operation of the tandem accelerator of nuclear facilities, Mr. Ikechi Eusebius Obiajunwa and Mr. David Ayo Pelemo from the Centre for Energy Research and Development, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said tandem accelerator includes hardware and software for computer control of the full accelerator system, specifically customized for each system configuration. They added that it could be applied in agricultural activities for analysis of soil and plants, leaves, fruits and seeds.
They also spoke on safety considerations when doing biomedical/biological sample analysis, warning that “serious hazards are associated with this equipment.”
They outlined first precautions to be taken when doing the analysis, explaining that “all personnel involved with this accelerator system must carefully study the instructions of each system operation, service and decommissioning”.
Obiajunwa and Pelemo, while speaking on the dos and don’ts of dangerous electrical voltage and liquids under pressure, harped on safety considerations.
“Carefully read all instruction manuals, follow all instructions and warnings exactly, study safety key and lockout instructions, communicate with others at your site, follow procedures on instructions and training.
“Don’t operate or service equipment without instruction, don’t service pressurised equipment while connected, don’t modify equipment or bypass safety measures, don’t work alone,” they stressed.
Another safety consideration, according to the experts, was safety cages, “where applicable, systems components operating at dangerous voltages are surrounded by safety cages composed of sturdy fencing and use safety measures, including automatic grounding drop-bars actuated by the doors, key locked doors, safety interlock key switches at the control console and others.
“Never operate high voltage parts of the equipment without the safety cage fully assembled and securely fastened to the floor. Grounding wires must be connected to all panels, the automatic grounding drop-bar and attached to a system safety ground.
“Never attempt to bypass or circumvent the automatic grounding drop bar or safety interlock switches. Make sure that you are always aware of the location of the emergency stop switches that may be needed in the event of an emergency.”
They added that “when entry of the safety cages is required, the following steps are to be taken: first, always put off the high voltage power supply with the control system. When provided, rotate the keyswitch and remove the key from the control console panel. This forces an additional shut down of the high voltage power supply. Keep this key with you during the entire service period or lock it away in a secure area.
“Service operations must only be performed by properly trained and experienced technicians. Never remove warning labels from applicable units. Replace lost or damaged labels immediately. Allow adequate time for applicable units to cool down after operation.”
In his welcome address shortly before he declared the workshop open, Prof. Ahmed explained that the major objective of any national nuclear energy programme is hinged on the safety and protection of lives of workers, people and environment wherever such nuclear facilities are operated.
Ahmed, who was represented by Prof. Abdullahi Mati, a director in the commission, said security and safety of nuclear facilities should not be toyed with, pointing out that great lessons should be learnt from nuclear accidents of 1979 in USA, 1986 in Ukraine and 2011 in Japan.
The director, CERT, Prof. Sunday Jonah, emphasised the need to protect nuclear facilities from malicious persons in society, adding that the training workshop was timely.
According to him, “the cardinal objective of any national nuclear energy programme is hinged on the safety and protection of the lives of workers, people and environment wherever such nuclear facilities are operated.
“Accordingly, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defines nuclear safety as “the achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the environment from undue radiation hazards. “Premised on the foregone, the nuclear sector requires and engages highly technical and skilled workforce and it remains the most regimented in the world. While taking into cognizance, the challenges involved in preventing and mitigating nuclear accidents and the effects of radiation that may result, the need for training and retraining of staff cannot be overemphasized.
“The deployment of nuclear energy for national socio-economic development is not a novelty and Nigeria has benefitted from the applications of nuclear and other radioactive substances for scientific research, education and training and also in specialized usage such as medicine, industry and agriculture. In these diverse areas of application, the radiation risks to workers, the public and to the environment that may arise needs to be assessed and controlled.
“A short trip through the history of the nuclear sector shows that amongst its peers of nuclear safety, security and safeguards, considerations for nuclear safety were the foremost.
“Going forward, issues of nuclear safety are given utmost consideration due to their trans-boundary nature, environmental impact and the long remediation process involved whenever they occur.
“In a bid to forestall future occurrences, the international community through the IAEA guarantees that all national nuclear safety regimes are strengthened through the emplacement of relevant agencies such as NAEC and the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) with independent mandates and responsibilities.
“Nigeria has operated its nuclear and radiological facilities for over 18 years without any incident. The 30kw miniature neutron source research reactor otherwise known as NIRR-1 attained criticality and was commissioned for operation on the 3rd of February 2004.
“This is aside the gamma cameras, linac accelerators and other radiotherapy equipment that are daily being put to use in various hospitals across the country for cancer diagnostics and treatment. “At this juncture, it is pertinent to state that these laudable feats are recognized and are highly commended by the IAEA.
“It is against this backdrop, the need to ensure the continuum of a workplace safety culture that the commission is organizing this workshop.
“This is with a view to deepen our commitment to a safe and secure work ethics and to the basic principle of nuclear knowledge management.
“The tripod of nuclear safety, security and safeguards are the bedrock upon which all national nuclear energy programmes are formulated. To this end, issues concerning these three are usually rarely discussed in isolation.”
