Nuclear reprocessing plant. Image: Getty, Steve Allen
Ghana’s emerging nuclear power programme is the culmination of nearly 60 years of socioeconomic and political developments under successive governments since independence in 1957.
Summary:
Ghana has recently revived a decades-old aspiration to establish a nuclear power programme and use nuclear power to drive economic transformation and development.
The country’s current power generation capacity cannot supply competitively priced electricity in a reliable and secure manner.
Nuclear power is seen as a viable option that can be added to the country’s energy mix to meet demand in the residential, industry and transport sectors and drive industrialisation efforts.
Ghana is setting a good example to other aspiring countries by following the internationally accepted comprehensive framework for developing infrastructure for nuclear power: the IAEA Milestones Approach.
It is already one of eight countries that operate a research reactor in Africa. The country is home to a 30kW, low-power Miniature Neutron Source Reactor that it acquired from China in 1994. A nuclear power plant is seen as the next step.
The presence of uranium, used to fuel nuclear reactors, is an important dimension of Ghana’s nuclear programme.
Ghana has approached Russia, China and the Republic of Korea for financial assistance, as building a nuclear power plant costs between $8 billion and $10 billion.
The country hopes to build a nuclear power plant by 2030.
