IPPAS MISSION: IAEA COMPLETES NUCLEAR SECURITY REVIEW MISSION IN NIGERIA

IPPAS MISSION: IAEA COMPLETES NUCLEAR SECURITY REVIEW MISSION IN NIGERIA

The Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) in its continuous strive to ensure the protection of nuclear and other radioactive material, as well as facilities and activities using such material, against theft and sabotage, requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) in order to further strengthen its national nuclear security regime, measures and systems.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in response deployed a team of Eight Experts for a two weeks Mission to review nuclear security practices in Nigeria from 3^rd to 14^th July, 2023. The Team of Experts was led by Mr. Juraj Vaclav, Head of the Division of Nuclear Materials of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic. Other IAEA Experts were from Lebanon, Indonesia, Argentina, Romania, USA, Pakistan and IAEA.

The IPPAS team carried out assessment on the current status of the national nuclear security regime and in particular implementation of physical protection, and compared the country’s physical protection procedures and practices with the obligations specified under; Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and its 2005 Amendment, the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive sources, Nuclear Security Fundamentals (IAEA NSS No. 20), the consensus recommendations defined in IAEA NSS No.13 (also known as INFCIRC/225/Rev.5), IAEA NSS No. 14 and other relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Series (NSS) guidance.

The exercise involved national and facility level review with focal point on Nigeria's legislative and regulatory framework for the security of radioactive material; regulatory practices in licensing, inspections and enforcement; and coordination between stakeholders involved in nuclear security.

The team visited facilities where high risk radioactive sources are used and the review covered security measures and practices at the selected facilities. The facilities visited were, Radiotherapy Facility, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH); the Temporary Radioactive Waste Storage Facility, Zaria and the Research Reactor at Center for Energy Research and Training (CERT) ABU Zaria; and the Gamma Irradiation Facility, Sheda Abuja.

Recommendations and suggestions were made by the team to support Nigeria in enhancing and sustaining its nuclear security regime. Also, good practices were identified that can serve as examples to other IAEA Member States to help strengthen their nuclear security activities.

Mr. Arvydas Stadalnikas, Head of the Integrated Nuclear Security Approaches Unit at the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Security, during the mission closing ceremony congratulated the Nigerian Government for taking the bold step to request for the IPPAS Mission which he said demonstrates strong commitment of the Government to nuclear security. “The results of this mission will help Nigeria to further enhance its nuclear security regime” he affirmed. He hoped that the Nigerian Government will invite the team soon for a follow-up IPPAS mission.

Dr. Yau Idris, DG/CEO of NNRA stated that Nigeria has learnt a lot from the Experts’ wealth of knowledge during this mission and reiterated the country’s commitment through the NNRA to implement all recommendations and suggestions using relevant international instruments to further improve its nuclear security regime.

He assured the team of Nigeria’s continuous readiness to collaborate with IAEA in order to prevent nuclear security events globally.

The IPPAS Team met with Stakeholders from the Department of State Service (DSS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Center for Energy Research and Training (CERT) ABU, Zaria, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Defence Headquarters, Nigeria Atomic Energy Agency (NAEC) and the NNRA.