Accra-Ghana, June 1, GNA – Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has called for reliable and sustainable funding for Ghana’s Nuclear Energy Programme to achieve the intended purpose.
He said for a viable programme such as the Nuclear Energy project to achieve the intended purpose, serious attention must be given to financial challenges.
The Speaker made the call at a meeting with the Board of Directors of Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG), led by its Chairman, Professor Benjamin J. B. Nyarko, when they called on him at the Parliament House in Accra.
The Board was in Parliament to brief the Speaker on the progress made on the programme as well as explore ways to ensure the successful implementation of Ghana’s only nuclear energy programme, a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said on Wednesday.
The Speaker pledged the support of Parliament towards the overall success of the programme and called for immediate steps to be taken to protect lands allocated for the programme from encroachment.
Prof Nyarko emphasised the long-term benefits of the programme to Ghana’s industrialisation drive, including reducing, considerably, the cost of power for industrial use.
He, however, expressed worry over the current limited staff, the lack of agency coordination, and low nationwide information, communication and education initiatives as some challenges inhibiting the smooth operation of the project.
“Nuclear implementation demands competences in specific areas of specialisation. Unfortunately, employment across the key institutions has been limited,” he said.
“Currently the NPG draws staff from the Volta River Authority, Bui Power Authority, and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and have a staff strength of about 20.”
Ghana’s effort to exploit the peaceful applications (including power generation) of nuclear science and technology dates to the early 1960s when the first President decided to undertake the Ghana Nuclear Reactor Project (GNRP) by establishing the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
Unfortunately, the nuclear ambition was truncated due to political instability until 2007 when the Government established a Nuclear Power Committee to explore the feasibility of using nuclear energy to meet the country’s growing energy needs.
The programme has since gained momentum, and Ghana is now on track to becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to operate a nuclear power plant.
