The Executive Director for Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG), Dr Stephen Yamoah, has assured Ghanaians that his outfit is committed to strict compliance with the requirements and rules in the safe application of nuclear technology, and the safety of the people and the environment.
He said NPG would continue to actively engage and provide information on its activities to industry players, stakeholders and the public in general.
Dr. Stephen Yamoah gave the assurance at the opening of the Ghana Industrial Summit and Exhibition organised by the Association of Ghana in Accra.
“We believe in cooperation and will sustain our partnership with the industry,” Dr Yamoah told the business community.
Nuclear Power Ghana is the entity which will be the owner and operator of the yet-to-be-established first nuclear power plant in the West African nation.
The country is about eight years away from boosting its energy generation with the addition of nuclear power.
Providing an update on Ghana’s nuclear project at the Ghana Industrial Summit, Dr Yamoah explained that his outfit issued a Request for Information (RFI) to vendor countries through the Ministry of Energy last year and received 15 responses consisting of information on six large reactors and nine Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
He said these responses have been evaluated by the Technical Committee and the report submitted to the Ministry of Energy for Cabinet’s attention.
“We are hopeful that the government would decide on the most suitable technology and the Vendor/Strategic partner for Ghana by the end of this year,” Dr Yamoah stated.
NPG has also completed the analysis of field and historical data and ranking of the four candidate sites that were identified in Phase 1.
According to Dr Yamoah, NPG is currently drafting the Preferred Site Report for submission to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority by the end of the year for review and approval.
“As we progress towards the end of our Phase 2, our siting activities will be focused on the preferred site for detailed site characterisation, including physical protection and security assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP), etc., all of which will lead to another report to the NRA for a construction permit to start construction.”
He stressed that NPG continues to make great strides with stakeholders’ engagements, candidate sites communities outreach, local schools involvement and education programmes.
He added, “We have also had fruitful engagements with some universities for the nurturing and development of the right human capital for the Nuclear Power Project.”
Dr. Yamoah explained that these academic learning institutions will begin Foundational courses for both technical and non-technical persons to support the Nuclear Power Programme / Project.
He further said his outfit continues to partner with and equip media professionals with the needed information to accelerate the public social acceptance licence.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
