The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, NNRA, said it has convened a meeting of the National Nuclear Security Committee, NNSC, following a reported security breach at an industrial radiography facility in Rivers State.
According to the regulatory agency, the breach involved unauthorised access to the facility’s radioactive source storage pit and the theft of six source projectors, two of which contained Ir-192 radioactive sources, as well as one transit container.
"The incident was formally reported to the NNRA by the company operating the facility", it said.
The NNRA subsequently communicated the incident to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, through its Incident and Trafficking Database, ITDB, the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies, USIE, and the Agency’s Incident and Emergency Centre.
The agency noted that reporting was done in line with established international information-sharing mechanisms under the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency.
The meeting, held last Monday at the NNRA Headquarters in Abuja, brought together relevant national security agencies and stakeholders to assess the circumstances and the safety and security implications of the incident.
After deliberations, the Committee agreed on modalities for investigating the incident and recovering the missing equipment, assigned responsibilities to participating agencies, and outlined appropriate safety and security measures to mitigate potential risks.
The resolutions provide a coordinated framework for investigation, recovery and risk mitigation, reaffirming the NNRA’s commitment to safeguarding radioactive sources through effective regulatory oversight and collaboration with national and international partners.
NNRA summons stakeholders over theft of radioactive sources in Rivers