William Nana Beeko || Chief Editor, AmaGhanaOnline.com
Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) was established in 2018 to operate Ghana’s first Nuclear Power generation plant.
In July 2019, NPG was duly registered under the Companies code of Ghana as a Limited Liability Company to pursue the Nuclear Power agenda.
Since that time, the NPG has been involved in various initiatives meant to prepare and secure the necessary infrastructure and further ensure the requisite frameworks to back its Nuclear exploitation.
As Ghana enters phase two of its Nuclear Power project and advances plans to build the nation’s first-ever Nuclear Power generation plant, it has become critical for the media to play a key role in shaping public perceptions and breaking myths associated with Nuclear power.
It is against this background that Mr. Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, Director of Renewable Energy at Bui Power Authority, has provoked a call to action, particularly for journalists to help defuse and allay the fears associated with Nuclear Power generation in Ghana.
There is a general perception of harm and threat to human lives among Ghanaians even at the mere mention of Nuclear.
But this, according to Mr. Ahiataku-Togobo is not the case at all.
He was addressing a three-day workshop organised by the NPG for selected journalists on the theme “Nuclear Safety, a Public Fear and Concern” in Accra.
He said Ghana needs sustainable power to support industrialization and the 1D1F
He noted Ghana has abundant natural resources which require reliable & affordable base-load generation to support value addition; Iron ore, bauxite, Gold, Diamond, manganese, Cocoa, among others.
“The nation’s dependance on variable renewable sources such as solar, wind or tidal electricity though sustainable, are intermittent and therefore cannot support industrialization without first having adequate baseload power. Nuclear Power has a key role to play in Ghana’s Energy Transition to Net Zero emission. The concern however is the nuclear safety and public fear,” he emphasized.
On why the BPA is fully supporting the NPG, he mentioned that clearly, Nuclear Power Programme Activity is in line with the BPA Amendment Act 1046 to support the development of renewable and clean energy alternatives including nuclear power.
He added “Nuclear power emits no Carbon Dioxide yet has the potential to provide reliable baseload power for supporting the uptake of more variable renewable energies such as wind and solar. The operational cost of Nuclear Power is very low and therefore most suitable to support industrialization and value addition as experienced by all the countries with Nuclear Power plants.
Indeed leading countries with significant variable renewable sources (solar and wind) have Nuclear power and or hydropower as baseload to support the intermittencies.”
