Wedoany.com Report-Nov 28, Ghana is set to choose a technology provider for its first nuclear power plants with unconfirmed reports in the west African country saying a decision could be announced by the end of the year.
Reports quoted energy minister Herbert Krapa as saying at the beginning of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) review mission to the country that “the vendor countries or country would be communicated next month”.
Krapa was speaking at a meeting held by Ghana’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) for members of an IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission. The mission team will review Ghana’s regulatory infrastructure for nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport.
The IAEA has already held two Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) missions to Ghana. The first was in 2017 and the second was a follow-up in 2019. The agency said Ghana had completed the studies needed for the government to be able to make “a knowledgeable commitment” to a nuclear power programme.
Krapa said Ghana is considering both large-scale and small modular reactors. He said Ghana is aiming to include an initial 1,000 MW of nuclear power in its electricity generation mix by the mid-2030s.
"Nuclear power will play a pivotal role in our energy transition, complementing renewable energy sources and helping us achieve our commitments to clean energy production under the Paris Agreement”, he said.
Press reports in Ghana said 16 countries and companies initially responded to the government’s call for reactor vendors, but the energy ministry shortlisted five.
In August, state-owned project company Ghana nuclear power plant company Nuclear Power Ghana and US nuclear technology project developer Regnum Technology Group said they had reached an agreement to deploy a single NuScale Voygr-12 SMR plant in Ghana.
