Ghana: Speaker Backs Ghana’s Nuclear Energy Programme …Calls For Sustainable Funding

Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban S. K. Bagbin has called for reliable and sustainable funding for Ghana’s Nuclear Energy Programme.

According to him, for a viable programme such as the Nuclear Energy Programme to achieve its intended purpose, serious attention must be given to it by way of financing.

The Speaker made the call at a meeting with the Board of Directors of Nuclear Power Ghana led by its chairman, Prof Benjamin J. B. Nyarko when they called on him in parliament on Tuesday.

The Board was in parliament to brief the Speaker on the progress made on the programme, as well as explore ways to ensure the successful implementation of the nuclear energy programme.

Prof Nyarko highlighted the long-term benefits of including nuclear power in Ghana’s energy mix, stressing that it would drive industrialisation and lead to a reduction in the cost of power for industrial use.

He, however, expressed worry about the limited staff, the lack of agency coordination and low nationwide information, communication and education initiatives which he said were some of the challenges inhibiting the smooth operation of the programme.

“Nuclear implementation demands competencies in specific areas of specialisation. Unfortunately, employment across the key institutions has been limited. Currently, the NPG draws staff from the Volta River Authority (VRA), Bui Power Authority (BPA) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and has a staff strength of about 20,” Prof Nyarko noted.

Speaker Bagbin pledged the support of parliament towards the overall success of the programme and called for immediate steps to be taken to protect lands allocated for the programme from being encroached on by others.

Ghana’s effort to exploit the peaceful applications (including power generation) of nuclear science and technology dates to the early 1960s when the first President, Kwame Nkrumah, decided to undertake the Ghana Nuclear Reactor Project (GNRP) by establishing the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

Unfortunately, the nuclear ambition was truncated due to political instability until 2007 when the government established a Nuclear Power Committee to explore the feasibility of using nuclear energy to meet the country’s growing energy needs.

The programme has since gained momentum, and Ghana is now on track to become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to operate a nuclear power plant.

The country hopes to construct and operate the first nuclear power plant by 2030.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com