By JAMES KUNDA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said Zambia is keen on exploring and fast-tracking the use of atomic energy to support social and economic activities in the country.
Mr Lungu said the Government was sensitising Zambians on the need to embrace nuclear power, saying there was nothing sinister or mystical about atomic energy consumption.
“Zambia might be new to the atomic or nuclear energy phenomenon but we are keen to embrace its use in many sectors, among them, health, mining, agriculture and so on,” the Head of State said. “Atomic energy is a peaceful form of energy with a lot of progressive uses in mankind’s life.”
President Lungu said this when International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Yukiya Amano called on him at State House in Lusaka yesterday.
The President appealed to Mr Yukiya to help Zambia mobilise modern equipment to replace that which was obsolete.
He said there was also need for capacity-building to enable the country comply with the regulations and standards of the sector.
In turn, Mr Lungu said, fatalities which arose from the poor implementation of nuclear energy use would be averted.
President Lungu said he would strategically assign some Cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries to learn best practices from counties such as Russia, which is a global leader in the atomic energy industry.
Mr Yukiya pledged that IAEA would lobby some countries to help Zambia, which he described as a strategic IAEA partner, find its feet in the nuclear power industry.
He said the institution would also help the country concretise legislation on the sector.
Mr Yukiya lauded the country for the strides scored in spheres such as health, where the cancer diseases hospital in Lusaka was applying the use of nuclear-based diagnostic equipment.
He said IAEA would in the third quarter of this year dispatch experts to Zambia to help the country identify its capacity of using nuclear energy, even in addressing issues such as climate change.