Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission To Get Legal Backing

Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission is set to get legal backing as the Senate has carried out a public hearing on a bill.

The hope for the legal backing for the Atomic Energy Commission came to the fore during a Public Hearing organised on two bills by the Senate Committee on Science and Technology chaired by Senator Uche Ekwunife (PDP-Anambra) yesterday in Abuja.

The bills are “Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) Act (Repeal and Reenactment) Bill 2022 and Nigerian Content in Programmes, Contracts, Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (Establishment) Bill, 2023”.

The NAEC bill was sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Orker-jev (PDP-Benue) while the Nigerian Content in Programmes, Contracts, Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation Bill was sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (APC-Niger).

In her welcome remarks, Ekwunife said that the passage of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission Act (repeal and reenactment) was crucial to the development of the science and technology sector.

She said the Act was enacted 46 years ago in 1976 adding that since then, there were no legislative steps taken to improve the commission in line with realities of global dynamics.

Also, the chairman of NAEC, Prof. Yusuf Ahmed said the decision to embark on a nuclear programme in Nigeria represented a long-term commitment to safety.

He, however, said that the lack of requisite legal framework was a challenge that had greatly slowed the activities of the commission to be able to harness the potential of atomic energy.