By Oscarline Onwuemenyi
ABUJA – The Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, NAEC, has attained another significant milestone in its quest to develop a sustainable nuclear power programme in Nigeria as it has successfully produced a draft bill that would form the legal framework for the nuclear industry in the country.

The Director General of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) Dr. F. Erepamo Osaisai, who stated this at the presentation of the draft legal document by members of the stakeholders committee which finalized the draft bill, said that when eventually the draft document is considered by the National Assembly and passed into Law, the appropriate legal framework would have been laid for successful operations of the nascent nuclear industry in Nigeria.

Osaisai commended the Committee which comprised of staff of the Legal Adviser’s Office in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Office of the National Security Adviser, and other stakeholder organizations under the coordination of the Legal Unit of NAEC for the meticulous and painstaking endeavor to produce the draft bill.

He further promised to continue with the appropriate due processes by forwarding the draft document to the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, for onward transmission to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for onward presentation to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for approval before it is forwarded to the National Assembly for final passage as Law.

Osaisai noted that the Commission expended enormous resources and time to ensure that the committee’s work and the eventual draft document was achieved in strict compliance with the rules and regulations governing the International nuclear industry as laid down by IAEA, stressing further that the nascent nuclear power programme in Nigeria will operate in conformity with the best international practices while adhering to highest standards of safety, security and safeguards.

He said the draft law is a combination of the 1976 Act establishing NAEC, and other recent legal developments governing the operations of the nuclear industry in the world.

Stressing that when the draft bill becomes law, hopefully by the end of the year, the nuclear power programme in Nigeria would have been anchored on solid legal framework to  operate successfully in a sustainable manner.

Chairman of the committee which finalized the draft Atomic Energy Bill, Mr. Ebenezer Obeya, commended the DG of NAEC for providing the members with the necessary resources and time needed to undertake the task of producing a detailed legal document for the running of a sustainable nuclear power programme in the country.

He said that the committee work and interaction with the IAEA has also afforded members the opportunity to enrich their knowledge on nuclear energy law and thanked the Commission for the opportunity given them to serve.

Production of the draft Atomic Energy Law was done in compliance with the appropriate due processes and with generous inputs from the international atomic energy watchdog, IAEA, and other National security and legal authorities.