Nigeria has selected two sites for the
construction of its planned nuclear
power plants, as Africa’s biggest
economy tries to end decades of
electricity blackouts that have blighted
its growth.



Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, which
has been in talks with Nigeria over the
nuclear plants, on Friday confirmed two
sites had been selected in Africa’s
most populous nation and said they
would have a total of four reactors.

Neither side would say where the sites
were, but a source at Nigeria’s nuclear
agency said the sites will be in Akwa
Ibom state, in southeast Nigeria, and
Kogi state, in the central northern part
of the country.

Nigeria, with a population of around
170 million, has installed power
capacity that fluctuates between
around 6,000 MW to just over 7,000
MW, according to the Transmission
Company of Nigeria, with 80 percent of
its power plants fired by gas.
By comparison, South Africa’s capacity
is almost seven times greater for a
population less than a third as big.

Africa’s biggest economy has no
experience in developing and operating
nuclear plants but has small reactors
producing around 30 KW for research,
Franklin Erepamo Osaisai, chief
executive of the Nigeria Atomic Energy
Commission, said on its website.

One nuclear power plant costs
between $5 billion to $8 billion, a
source at Rosatom said. Nigeria has
not yet said how it plans to fund the
construction, a key question given its
finances have taken a hit after a slump
in the price of oil, its main export.
LAGOS/MOSCOW, (Reuters)