In December 2015, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) acting on behalf of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO) requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out a Phase 1 Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) Mission in Ghana, which the IAEA agreed to conduct in January 2017.
The INIR service is designed to assist Member States, upon request, in evaluating the status of their national infrastructure for the introduction of a nuclear power programme or the expansion of an existing one. The INIR service is coordinated and led by the IAEA and conducted by a team of IAEA staff and international experts drawn from Member States who have experience in different aspects of developing nuclear power infrastructure in a safe, secure and sustainable manner.
The first INIR mission was conducted in 2009, and so far, twenty one (21) of them (Phase 1 or Phase 2 or a Follow-up of a previous INIR mission) have been conducted in 15 Member States. Of these, four (4) were in Africa: namely, South Africa (2013, Phase 2), Nigeria (2015, Phase 2), Kenya (2015, Phase 1), and Morocco (2016, Phase 1). The
Ghana INIR mission and associated activities are supported by the Government of Ghana and the IAEA through the national Technical Cooperation Project GHA2003 “Establishing Nuclear Power Infrastructure for Electricity Generation (Phase III)”.
The INIR mission seeks to perform an independent and objective review of the status of the 19 nuclear infrastructure issues in Ghana for Phase 1 of the programme, and is not intended to be an external audit or endorsement of the country’s nuclear power programme. Its main goal is to help Ghana determine the status of its nuclear power infrastructure and identify areas needing further action and assistance, and thereby assist Ghana and its programme partners to focus on needed actions to enable the achievement of the Phase 1 milestone.
The INIR service consists of 4-steps, namely: 1) The preparation of a Self-Evaluation Report (SER), and if required the conduct of a SER support mission; 2) the conduct of a Pre-INIR mission; 3) the conduct of the INIR mission; and 4) the Follow-up to the INIR mission. Ghana’s initial SER was submitted in early April 2016 with associated supporting documents, and a SER support mission and a Pre-INIR mission were conducted in August 2016. Based on comments from the SER support mission, Ghana’s SER was revised and re-submitted with supporting documents in early December 2016.
