Minister of Science and Technology Turner Isoun inaugurated the reactor at the ABU's Center for Energy Research and Training at the weekend.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Isoun said Nigerian scientists no longer had a place to hide now that the country could boast of a satellite in space and a nuclear research reactor on ground.

He, however, said that a much bigger capacity reactor would be required to fully grasp the fundamentals of the technology needed to run a nuclear power plant in the country.

Earlier, Vice Chancellor of ABU Prof. Shehu Abdullahi said the center was now better positioned to render analytical services to various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He said the university had the highest number of nuclear scientists in the country and appealed to the government to introduce better welfare package for the staff "in view of the high risk involved in nuclear research."

Prof. Shamsudeen Elegba, director-general of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulating Authority, traced the history of the center to the promulgation of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission decree No. 46 of 1976.

Elegba, who was the first director of the center, told reporters that the project took off in the university in 1977.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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