The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded an International Physical Protection Advisory mission, IPPAS, to Nigeria. The 12-day mission, which started in beginning of July, 2023 at the request of the Nigerian government, reviewed the security regime for nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities in the country.
The team specifically assessed the physical protection systems installed at the Nigerian Nuclear Research Reactor (NIRR-1), Temporary Radioactive Waste Storage Facility in the Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Radiotherapy Department, and the Gamma Irradiation Facility at the Nuclear Technology Centre (NTC).
The IPPAS team was led by Juraj Vaclav, Head of the Division of Nuclear Material of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic, with other experts from Argentina, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Romania, the United States of America and one IAEA member of staff.
The team observed that the nuclear security regime in Nigeria as established incorporates the fundamental principles of the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, CPPNM, and its amendment. Nigeria ratified the CPPNM in May, 2007 and was the first country to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, in 1968.
This is the first IPPAS team mission to Nigeria and also compared Nigeria’s existing practices against the CPPNM and its 2005 Amendment, the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, and IAEA nuclear security guidance.
The IPPAS team met in Abuja with the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), Centre for Energy Research and Training, Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, the Office of the National Nuclear Security Adviser, Department of State Services, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal – Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unit of the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The mission was the 99th IPPAS mission conducted by the IAEA since the programme began in 1995.
During missions, which can be on a national or facility-specific basis, an IAEA team of international experts observes the system of physical protection and compares it with international good practices and makes recommendations for improvement.
