The reactor, which is solely for scientific purposes and constructed with technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), was launched in Ahmadu Bello University, the largest university in northern Nigeria, Umar told AFP in a telephone interview.

Umar, director of the university's Centre for Energy Research and Training, which is in charge of the project, said that the reactor was commissioned by Nigeria's science and technology minister in the presence of representatives of IAEA and the Nigeria's Energy Commission.

"The reactor will solely be applied for scientific research which includes soil mapping to quantify different elements in the soil to boost agricultural production and to reduce the use of chemical fertilizer as well as for solid minerals identification in Nigeria", he said.

"It will also be used in petroleum exploration and for identifying elements associated with diseases in the human body and other human-related research purposes", Umar said.

He ruled out the possibility of expanding the project for research in nuclear weapons, saying the project is under the strict supervision of the

"We are not involved in strategic research like nuclear weapon because we are a university-based research centre, located within the university. We have been doing this kind of research using other techniques which are just expanding using nuclear reactor," he said.

According to Umar, the research centre would be liaising with ministries for science and technology, water resources, agriculture and petroleum for its research programmes.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.