Ghana’s nuclear ambitions move into sharper focus today as senior government officials, global industry leaders and nuclear experts converge in Accra for the third U.S.-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit, with the country facing critical decisions on its first nuclear power plant.
The three-day summit, which opens today, August 19, runs until August 21 on the theme “Building and Sustaining Africa’s Nuclear Workforce.”
Its timing is important for Ghana. The country is now in Phase Two of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Milestone Approach, a stage at which major decisions on technology, regulation, financing and workforce readiness must be addressed before construction of a nuclear plant can begin.
For Dr. Archibold Buah-Kwofie, Director of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), the summit is coming at a decisive point.
“You can have every technology available, but if you don’t have the human resource that can adequately use that technology, then it is as good as having nothing,” he told The High Street Journal.
Ghana’s nuclear decisions come into focus
Ghana began developing its nuclear power infrastructure in 2015, with the long-term goal of commissioning its first nuclear power plant around 2030.
Having completed the initial planning stage, the country is now moving into the more demanding phase of the programme.
Dr. Buah-Kwofie said policymakers need access to the right information as Ghana weighs its options.
“We are at a critical stage of our nuclear infrastructure. Decisions need to be made, and policymakers must have access to the right information to make those decisions,” he said.
The summit gives Ghana an opportunity to learn from countries that have already built and operated nuclear power plants, while bringing international expertise directly into discussions about the country’s own programme.
The people behind Ghana’s nuclear ambitions
The summit’s focus on the nuclear workforce reflects a concern that goes beyond building a power plant.
Ghana will need engineers, scientists, technicians, regulators, policymakers and other specialists capable of operating and overseeing a nuclear industry safely for decades.
The summit is expected to bring together senior officials from the IAEA, including its Director General, representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy and nuclear industry, African energy ministries, regulators, universities and research institutions.
The discussions will also build on the Regional Energy Training Centre, established through Ghana-U.S. cooperation to support nuclear capacity development across Africa.
Although based in Ghana, the centre is intended to serve countries across the continent that are exploring nuclear energy to strengthen electricity supply and support industrialisation.
Why industry is watching
For Ghana, the nuclear debate is not only about electricity generation.
Reliable baseload power could have implications for manufacturing, mining, mineral processing and other industries that require large amounts of electricity and cannot easily operate around power interruptions.
Dr. Buah-Kwofie has argued that Ghana’s nuclear programme should therefore be viewed alongside its industrial ambitions.
The summit also offers Ghana an opportunity to position itself as a regional centre for nuclear education, technical training and policy development as more African countries consider civilian nuclear power.
A decision-making moment for Ghana
With government officials, regulators, academia and private-sector players gathered in Accra, the summit puts Ghana’s nuclear ambitions under an international spotlight.
For the country, however, the most important conversations may happen beyond the speeches.
Ghana must determine how to finance its nuclear programme, which technology to pursue, how to strengthen regulation and, perhaps most importantly, how to build the skilled workforce required to operate it safely.
As the summit opens today, those questions are no longer distant considerations. They are becoming part of the decisions Ghana must make about the country’s future power supply and its wider industrial ambitions.
