The Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) has urged Nigerians to be mindful of the kind of soil they use in building and other mining activities, saying some have more radiation effects than others.
This was the crux of the fifth National Workshop for Correspondents on Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection by the authority in Abuja where it stated that the largest form of ionizing radiation to Nigerians is the building structure and food people eat (like fish).
NNRA was established by the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Act 1995 but began operations in May 2001.
The Director-General of NNRA, Dr Yau Idris, who was represented by the General Manager, Nuclear Safety, Physical Security and Safeguards, Dr Nasiru Bello, said according to surveys by the authority, there are places in the North like Jos-Plateau where radiation from Natural Organic Matter (NOM) and mineral resources is high, especially in mining areas.
“And people grow food and vegetables and people take sand and use it to build too,” he said.
He also said there are cases in the Niger Delta region where sea sand with high radiation is used to build houses.
He noted that such ionising radiation has health challenges that come in forms people cannot see and the effect could be in years such as the various types of cancer.
The authority however dismissed reports that exposure to mobile phone networks could cause cancer, saying they emit non-ionising radiation which is safer than ionising radiation.
Mr John Adamu of the Legal and International Cooperation Unit at NNRA, said there are efforts to pass the Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguard (NSSS) bill which would improve the authority’s capacity to regulate nuclear power plants and detect terrorist involvement in nuclear activities.
The Head, Information and Protocol Unit, NNRA, Mrs Ekaette Bassey, in a presentation, said common exposure to radioactive sources like X-ray machines, ionising radiation types like alpha and beta particles, gamma and neutrons could cause death, burns, cancer, thyroid, irritations and serious health conditions.
