Uneven use of nuclear programmes across regions
Channel: Science & Development Network
Date: 2020-04-30

Five decades after signing the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the broad development of this energy and other uses of its potential such as medical and research purposes are gaining momentum in the developing world.

“No developed nation has been able to get to where it is without having involved itself in nuclear energy production,” Abulrazak Shaukat, director of the Division of Africa at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says to SciDev.Net.

Ildeu de Castro Moreira, president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, highlights three main important areas where research on nuclear field can contribute: “energy power as well as medicine for cancer diagnosis and treatments, and agriculture for food conservation”.

Moreira adds that all countries “have the right to do research in the nuclear field because it can contribute to everyday life and economics”.
“The treaty was fundamental to stimulate pacific uses, a key element for strengthening capacity building and development of the signing parties.”
Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency
Nevertheless, the road to it is bumpy, it takes years of implementation and requires prepared human resources as well as investments in the order of billions of dollars.

“Joining the nuclear world is not something that happens overnight but instead takes years — up to ten years — from the time of implementation to operation of the first reactor. This period is sufficient enough for newbies to learn and be prepared for their first launch,” Shaukat tells SciDev.Net.

In fact, many developing countries do not have the kind of skilled human resource or funding needed to properly start and operate a nuclear power plant. Furthermore, these countries are highly dependent on foreign experts, and for worst, a report released by the IAEA in 2004 points out to the fact that several nuclear experts were about to retire.

The IAEA is the United Nations’ centre for cooperation in the nuclear field and for promoting safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.

Hossam El-Din Hassan, assistant professor of nuclear sciences at Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, explains to SciDev.Net that human resources difficulties can be addressed through training provided by international organisations such as the IAEA or countries advanced in the field including China and Russia.

“Perhaps the real crisis in terms of human resources is how to [retain] those talents after being trained,” he says.

He pointed out that Sudan has established a faculty for nuclear engineering to help the country with its peaceful nuclear programme. Unfortunately, inability to sustain those teams led to many of them migrating or shifting to other sectors.

Meanwhile, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil despite joining other countries with nuclear capabilities since the1950s are suffering from inadequate investments for capacity building in nuclear development.

“The problem in Latin American countries is a financial issue because with every new administration, financial support for nuclear projects is interrupted,” says Norma Boero, former president of Argentinean National Commission of Atomic Energy.

“Three major projects in the nuclear energy sector are either interrupted or behind the schedule,” explains Aquilino Senra, a nuclear expert from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Argentina. “The Brazilian nuclear programme is not in a good moment due to budget limits.”

The three projects are a nuclear power plant for electricity generation, a nuclear reactor for research and production of radioisotopes, and a submarine with nuclear propulsion.