03 September 2012, Sweetcrude, ABUJA – THE Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority, NNRA, has said oil companies operating in the country between 2000 to 2011 abandoned about 26 radioactive sources in the Niger Delta region.
Experts say radioactive wastes pose serious environmental danger, leading to cancer, injuries and death.
NNRA’s director of Enforcement, Dr Yau Idris, who disclosed this at the 3rd National Workshop for journalists on Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection, said the incidence of abandoned radioactive sources in Nigeria is among the highest in the international oil and gas industry.
He said the oil companies accounted for about 90 percent of radioactive material, which made them highest importers of radioactive materials in the country.
“They (oil companies) use radioactive materials in laying pipelines and oil wells drilling among others,” Idris said.
