Ghana’s agenda to integrate nuclear power into its power generation mix is progressing steadily with the Ministry of Energy setting a target to fully activate the second phase of the project by the end of the first quarter of next year.

The first phase, which was primarily about making the decision to use nuclear power and meeting all the 19 infrastructural needs outlined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was fully addressed by the country as at April 2017.

The second phase, which includes implementation of the decisions made in phase one, is said to be progressing steadily, although it was yet to be fully activated.

The Deputy Director, Nuclear and Alternative Energy at Ministry of Energy, Dr Robert Bright Mawuko Sogbadji, made this known during an interaction with selected journalists in Accra on September 18 under the auspices of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom).

He said the nuclear integration roadmap provided a timeline of between 2027 and 2030 to roll out nuclear and this has been incorporated into how the various phases would be rolled out.

“We were to start phase two by mid of this year, but what delayed was the establishment of the project office because you need the project office for the implementation of the phase two. Once it has been established, we can begin phase two.”

“By the end of first quarter next year, we should be beginning phase two. Phase two is the implementation of whatever we did in phase one. When you take phase one and we are looking at planning for security for instance, phase two will look at what exactly what we will do and how to implement that plan,” he said.

He explained that although Ghana had fulfilled some of the requirements, including the establishment a nuclear regulatory authority, more feasibility studies are being conducted to ensure a smooth transition.

He said the phase two will take between three to four years, while the phase three which will look at the construction of the plants will take between five and six years.

Candidate sites

Dr Sogbadji said the project office overseeing the nuclear rollout in Ghana comprised the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Bui Power Authority and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) with an oversight responsibility by the Ministry of Energy. The project office is being hosted by the Bui Power Authority.

He said there were currently candidate sites for the nuclear power production, out of which the country will settle on four. As a result, the project office has been collecting data on these sites in the past months.

“Last month, the project office went to the field to add more data to the candidate sites. We did some preliminary studies two years ago to have candidate areas so the team went on the field to do extra work so that at least we can zoom in on four candidate sites.

“So far we have about eight which we are still trying to zoom in to four,” he said.

Source:graphic.com.gh

The Senegalese Ministry of Higher Education has entered into an agreement with the French National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology – Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires, INSTN – to cooperate in establishing a centre of excellence in nuclear science and technology in the West African country, writes wnn. The nuclear cooperation agreement was signed by the director of INSTN Philippe Corréa for France and the minister of higher education, research and innovation Mary Teuw Niane for Senegal.

The agreement to collaborate on the nuclear science and technology project is anchored on three major objectives, reports wnn. First, it opens the peaceful atomic energy transfer door for France to support Senegal in the creation of an African Centre of Excellence in Nuclear Physics in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Second, it boosts Franco-Senegal’s bilateral nuclear science and technology cooperation and facilitates Senegal’s participation in the domestic development of teaching capability on a research reactor or a virtual reality teaching reactor. Third, and finally, the agreement seeks to support the development of training courses focused on nuclear health applications, particularly in the fight against cancer using external beam radiotherapy equipment.

The agreement has the potential benefit of contributing to human and institutional capacity building of the nuclear sector workforce in Senegal. To that end, the executive phase of the agreement could go down the line to create a distance learning platform for the training of Senegalese experts and students in nuclear science and technology. Through the remote education component, France could transfer knowledge and share best practices to promote national development and improve citizen wellbeing using nuclear applications in accordance with IAEA regulations.

Currently, the electricity supply in Senegal is produced from fossil fuels mainly. In early 2010, the government announced it was considering a nuclear power plant by about 2020. The decision was part of the government’s energy policy to diversify power generation sources in the country and to integrate Senegalese grid system with the West African Power Pool. In 2010, the energy minister was keen to establish an African Commission for Nuclear Energy with headquarters in Dakar, according to wnn. In the same year, France offered technical assistance in the nuclear field. A year later, the Senegalese president said that he had canceled plans for nuclear power. At the end of 2017, domestic electricity demand was only 550 MWe but is projected to grow at 7% per year.

The INSTN is a higher education institution founded in 1956 as part of the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) – le Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA). To that end, INSTN benefits from an exceptional research and development environment in the nuclear energy sector, as well as applications in the fields of health and radiation protection.

The Eastern Regional house of Chiefs has applauded the progress made by the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organization (GNPPO) at meeting the objective of including nuclear power into Ghana’s electricity generation mix.

This was expressed when the Chiefs and the Regional Minister Hon. Eric Kwakye Darffour toured the Exhibition stand mounted by the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of the GNPPO at the Koforidua Jackson park, as part of activities to commemorate the maiden ‘Eastern Star Awards and Paramountcy Trade Expo’.

The four days event that was put together by the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, in collaboration with the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council and Onua 95.1fm, is to showcase the massive investment potential of the Eastern Region and also award natives and business entities that have brought notable development and job opportunities to the region.

The Gyasehene of Obo Kwahu, Nana Dr. Okra Baadu III who spoke in an interview was optimistic the vision of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah would be reactivated. He acknowledged the role of Nuclear power in socioeconomic development. According to him, China’s industrial transformation and rapid economic development is partly dependent on nuclear power.

He advised Ghanaians to adopt a high level of maintenance culture in order to meet the high standards required in the nuclear industry and to jealously guard the nuclear power plant after its commissioning. He also called on fellow Chiefs in other regions to rally support for the Nuclear Power Programme since it is one of the obvious paths to meeting the industrialization agenda of the country.

The Manager of the Public Relations and Information Centre of NPI, Mr. Elikem Kwaku Ahialey, who took the opportunity to brief the Regional Minister and the Chiefs on Ghana’s nuclear journey and the basic working principle of nuclear power plant, expressed joy at the opportunity to engage Easterners during the Exhibition.

He disclosed that, the nuclear power programme is about to fully enter its second phase even though some second phase requirements have already be achieved. “We are fortunate for the opportunity to meet and engage some chiefs, students, traders and other class of people in society on issues of nuclear power and Ghana’s nuclear power programme”, he added.

He commended the Chiefs and people of the Eastern Region for the initiative to showcase the potential of the Region and finally called on Ghanaians to remain positive and optimistic towards the nuclear power programme since it will, among many other benefits, be a catalyst for facilitating Ghana’s aspiration of becoming economically self sufficient.

By: Thykingdom Kudesey / Office of Corporate and Public Affairs (OCPA) – GAEC

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) organized a program that hosted a ten member team from Nigeria at the International Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) Training Facility (IMTF) in Accra, Ghana.

The Centre Manager of the Nuclear Reactors Research Centre (NRRC) under the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), GAEC, Dr. Henry Cecil Odoi said the objective of the program was to train member states who operate MNSRs outside China to convert their Research Reactor fuels from Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU).

According to him, efforts were initiated in 2006 to convert the Chinese-designed MNSR in Ghana from HEU to LEU fuel. ‘The Ghana Research Reactor -1 is the first of five such MNSR reactors outside of China to have been converted and the HEU core returned to China”.

He added that through a collaborative work between Ghana, USA, China and the IAEA, the HEU core was removed from the reactor in August 2016 and a new LEU core installed.

‘The Nigerian’s MNSR is the next to undergo conversion of the core and Ghana is hosting them for series of training sessions to help equip them with the requisite skills to carry out the activity’, he explained.

The head of the Nigerian team, Dr. Hamisu Abukari Admamu in an interview said, their research reactor which was commissioned in February, 2004 will be converted from HEU to LEU. According to him the training sessions will help them prepare for the conversion process.

He commended the efforts of the supervisors and facilitators for giving out their best to his team.

A specialist at the International Relations Department of the SOSNY R&D Company, Russia, Ms. Irina Shatalina, who together with her team offered technical training to the Nigerian personnel expressed satisfaction at the rate of progress made by the Nigerians so far.

She intimated that she was confident the Nigerians would be able to convert the core within the stipulated period at the end of all the training sessions without assistance. She also expressed gratitude to GAEC for the immense support given her and her team during the training sessions.

By: Thykingdom Kudesey / Office of Corporate and Public Affairs (OCPA) – GAEC

Some members of the Ghana Institute of Engineers, Accra, have called on the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) to take advantage of the growing opportunities in the Oil and Gas Sector to develop human capacity for local content jobs.

The concerned engineers made the call at a recent lecture delivered by Scientists of the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), GAEC, on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technologies and applications.

NDT is a technique that ensures that the structural integrity of systems are maintained even after work is done on them. It ensures that no damage is done to parts being worked on. Thistechnology requires the use of radiation among others, to detect cracks, corrosion and leakages in pipes and tanks.

The growing need for NDT technology and services in the offshore Oil and Gas sector has necessitated local engineers to demand for the building of human capacity in the area of NDT technologies to offer offshore NDT services.

Speaking in an interview, Fredric Emmanuel Awuku Bekoe, an Engineer and a member of the Ghana Institute of Engineers disclosed that he was impressed with the activities carried out at GAEC.

He acknowledged that GAEC has proven that it has competent human resource in the field of NDT. However, he lamented that Ghana has not secured enough jobs that use NDT within the offshore Oil and Gas sector.

“Petty Offshore jobs are still awarded to foreign companies because the locals do not have the resources to carry out such jobs. But from the lessons learnt I could tell that GAEC is capable of doing beyond what they are doing currently if government can support”, he said.

He added that it is about time GAEC moved from the onshore services to secure other offshore jobs. Mr. Bekoe further added that most of the generated revenue will remain in Ghana if Government can equip GAEC to extend services beyond its reach.

By: Thykingdom Kudesey / Office of Corporate and Public Affairs (OCPA) – GAEC

“Ghana’s developmental dreams will be short-lived without a constant supply of electricity to power industries”. Dr. Mensah made this statement on a working visit to the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), to ascertain the effective use of Nuclear Technology in national development.

Dr. Mensah is a Ghanaian-American chemical engineer who works in fiber optics and nanotechnology. He has to his credit, fourteen (14) patents, of which seven (7) were awarded within a period of six years. He was inducted into the US National Academy of Inventors in 2015.

In an interview during his tour, he spoke passionately about the rich mineral and human resource potentials that Ghana can tap into, for its development without relying on foreign aid. He stressed that Ghana’s industrialization requires the building of factories with uninterrupted power supply.

He reiterated the need for nuclear power supply in Ghana as a sustainable option to meet Ghana’s energy needs especially for industry.

He mentioned that the Silicon Valley project for Ghana was launched in January 2017 aspart of Ghana’s efforts to bridge the technology gap in the country. He added that it will work hand in hand with GAEC to create businesses (in accelerators and incubators) that can compete with tech-companies around the world. According to him, “The Silicon Valley of Ghana will, move Ghana into the 21^stCentury’s technological advancement and also specifically support the high Speed Bullet Train that is being developed in Ghana”. He added that there is an initiative to also look at generating electricity from waste.

Speaking on Agriculture and food preservation in Ghana, Dr. Mensah noted that his outfit would work with experts from GAEC, employing GAEC’s Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) to control post-harvest losses by irradiating crops for longer shelf lives. Thus, such crops could be exported to other countries to generate revenue.

He used the opportunity to tour some laboratories and facilities at GAEC.

By: Thykingdom Kudesey / Office of Corporate and Public Affairs (OCPA) – GAEC