NEI Nuclear Notes

An energy professional with the great name of Jude Nuru writes on Ghanaweb : It is worth mentioning that the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission has over the years successfully operated a nuclear plant on a small scale which has been of significant benefit to Ghanaians health wise. Now is the time to rally support for the Commission as it prepares to build Ghana’s first nuclear power plant which has immense potential not only to halt the recurrent power outages, but also bring additional revenue to mother Ghana through the exportation of excess power to neighboring countries. Mr. Nuru is mostly interested in dispelling nuclear myths, at which he does a fine job. He even tackles the tough-to-simplify idea of the risk benefit ratio – nuclear is low risk and huge benefit, but that can be a hard proposition to hear over a din of fearmongering. But he does it. The question is: is Ghana moving forward with a nuclear facility ? A bill is being prepared to establish an independent ...

This one flew in under the radar: Minister for Energy and Petroleum Emmanuel Kofi Buah, says Ghana is committed to considering nuclear energy as a viable option in power generation. He said the Ministry is putting the necessary measures in place to ensure the realization of that great goal. According to him, the increasing demand for power in the country called for accelerated measures to venture into nuclear power, adding that the time has come for critical consideration of this option. The author here seems to jumping straight from considering to implementing, which still seems a way off. Still, the reason Ghana is looking into nuclear energy is very easy to understand. The IAEA Africa Head pledged his support for Ghana in its quest to venture into that area, saying that if the country is to achieve higher middle income status, then there is the need for cheap and clean energy to power its developing industries. That’s about right. Although I didn’t find much discussion o...

Ghana’s turn : The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Prof Yaw Serfor-Armah, has given the assurance that Ghana will continue to promote the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques and biotechnology for the sustainable development of the country in particular and Africa in general. That’s always good to hear, though it seems unlikely anyone doubted Ghana’s intentions. This was said at a summit hosted by GAEC and the IAEA in Accra, as the country gears up to build its first plant, scheduled to open in 2018. Ghana? Although the government has implemented a plan to move its economy to a point that it can sustain a middle class by 2015, right now it is quite poor, with a per capita annual salary of about $700. But if Ghana succeeds in creating a middle class – and even if it doesn’t - it will certainly need more electricity. The high dependency on rain-fed hydro power, which accounts for 65% of installed capacity has led short falls ...