A GNA feature by Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, Aug 24, GNA – The mention of nuclear energy continues to send shivers down the spine of many people across the world owing to its association with explosives and destruction over the years.
Consequently, the idea of any nation to venture into a nuclear facility of any kind is more often than not met with pessimistic pushbacks without recourse to the positive potentialities of the energy.
But just as a pair of scissors is a weapon in the hand of a criminal but a life-saving instrument in the hand of the surgeon, nuclear energy is beneficial to nations with responsible government.
There are reports of how some terrorists across the world are exploiting nuclear energy to carry out their nefarious activities, justifying the anxiety and aversion people have towards the technology.
The fact, however, remains that nuclear energy continues to serve humanity positively in so many areas, including agriculture and health.
The world is now fast tilting towards the technology for electricity due to its affordability, reliability and cleanness as compared to other sources such as coal and thermal.
Countries currently exploiting nuclear energy to power their economies include France, China, the United States of America, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Ghana’s first contact with nuclear dates back to the 1960s and the country has exploited it positively in a dozen ways over the decades to aid development.
The country, led by Nuclear Power Ghana, has initiated the process to establish a nuclear power plant by 2030 as it moves to improve the power sector towards industrialisation.
It is currently at the second of three phases to ensure safety and security and working feverishly to meet all requirements necessary to meet the target.
Safety
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in Japan, the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, Ukraine and the Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster as well as issues of radiation have always been the reference point for many cynics of nuclear facilities such as nuclear power plants.
To many, the nuclear power plant is but a dangerous monster, which emit radiations to cause cancer, kill thousands and even alter DNAs.
But this thinking is erroneous, experts have argued.
On the contrary, a careful observation of the energy space puts nuclear technology across as one of the safest technologies in the world.
Data from Our World in Data (OWID), a scientific online publication, demonstrates that nuclear is only second to solar in terms of safety with a death rate per unit of electricity production of 0.03 as against the 0.02 of solar.
It puts oil, coal and brown coal among the most dangerous with death rates per unit of electricity production of 18.43, 24.62 and 32.72 respectively.
The structure and composition of a nuclear power plant is in itself described as “safety” due to the dozens of safety layers mounted at every level.
This is because, the establishment of a nuclear power plant follows strict safety, security and safeguard measures to check accidents, radiation, theft, sabotage, unauthorised access, misuse, inter alia.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s nuclear supervising agency, leaves no rooms for breaches as it strictly monitors every step of a country in the establishment of a nuclear power plant through regulatory frameworks and protocols – conception to decommissioning.
The IAEA implements safeguard measures by way of unannounced visits to facilities, installation of cameras at the plant, remote monitoring, use of seals among others.
Mr Daniel A. Wordson, the Manager, Executive Office, Nuclear Power Ghana, at a media workshop for regional managers of the Ghana News Agency and selected editors, explained that commercial-type nuclear devices could not “under any circumstances” explode like a nuclear bomb.
“The fuel is not enriched beyond about five percent. Much higher enrichment is needed for explosives,” he stressed.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Professor Emeritus Omowumi Iledare, the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) Commerce Chair of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), observed that contrary to the fear of explosion and radioactive contamination, nuclear energy was the cleanest and safest form of energy because it follows scores of stringent layers of safety measures.
“If you look at the deaths so far recorded from nuclear accidents, it is nothing compared to the deaths from flying airplanes.
“People have reasons to be wailing about the radiation aspect of it but then we might as well not be riding cars,” he said.
Climate friendliness
A renewable energy expert, Mr Flavio Odoi-Yorke and lecturer with the Renewable Energy Technology Department of the Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU), intimated in an interview with GNA that nuclear technology for electricity was climate friendly because it burnt very clean and did not emit any greenhouse gases.
“And that is what the world is looking at; trying to cut down on greenhouse gases because of climate change and its repercussion on our existence,” he added.
Energy sustainability
Ghana has a vision to become an industrialised country in the next few years, but the question is, is the country’s current energy mix and power capacity sustainable enough for the noble dream?
This is why the establishment of the nuclear power plant has become crucial for the country at this point.
The plant is expected to add at least 1,000 megawatts to the country’s power grid when completed and commissioned for use.
The Akosombo Dam, which has served as the country’s electricity base-load for about six decades has been facing drops in water levels due to harsh climatic conditions, a situation affecting electricity power generation.
Energy experts have cautioned that the Akosombo and Kpong hydropower plants, which currently serve 32 percent as the nation’s base-load supplier will reduce drastically to about 25 per cent after 2025.
Dr Seth K. Debrah, Director, Nuclear Power Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (NPI-GAEC), at the media workshop expressed concerns about the country’s energy sustainability, saying Ghana “will be in trouble” if it failed to adopt a green solution for electricity production.
He said nuclear power “is Ghana’s next green baseload solution,” emphasising that “Ghana requires a zero-emission electricity base-load for sustainable and affordable electricity production.”
For his part, Mr Odoi-Yorke is convinced nuclear energy is the country’s best bet for industrialisation.
He said with an efficiency level of between 33 to 37 percent, nuclear was one of the most efficient technologies used by many industrialised countries across the world.
“Nuclear is more efficient because you can generate a lot of heat from just one uranium. It is more powerful than solar. Even though hydro is also good, it depends on water and, therefore, not too reliable. So, for us to industrialise, nuclear is the best,” he said.
As a renewable energy expert and activist, he averred that renewable energy sources such as solar could only be used to complement the energy consumed from the national grid and not for reliable or efficient enough for industrialisation.
Economic expansion
In the view of Professor Emeritus Iledare, the quest for a nuclear power plant is a valid and pragmatic measure towards the country’s anticipated economic expansion.
He said nuclear energy was cost-effective and provided a bigger power base-load to cater for the enormous energy demand by developing economies such as Ghana.
Therefore, he said the country would need more investors to guarantee industrial expansion to absorb the energy capacity the power plant would deliver.
Professor Iledare applauded Ghana for being the first in the West African sub-region to chatter the course.
“Energy is a driver of economic growth and natural gas is not a good base-load. Nuclear power is a very good idea. It is futuristic…” he said.
Acceptance
Nuclear energy is not only clean and safe but also affordable.
As Ghana advances in its quest to include nuclear energy in its energy mix to, among other things, propel its industrialisation agenda, it is critical for the Ghanaian populace to appreciate that the energy is safe and clean with negligible consequences to the environment and human health.
The idea that nuclear energy is inimical to human survival should, therefore, be relinquished to ensure its successful integration into the country’s energy mix to expedite the industrialisation agenda.
The Africa Continental Free Trade Area is here, and Ghana cannot afford to lose out.
The only way the nation can take full advantage of the agreement is through industrialisation, and industrialisation by nuclear power must be considered.
GNA