The Director of the Nuclear Power Institute at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Professor Kofi Debrah, says Ghana should consider using nuclear energy as a good energy base for its industrialization plans.
He asserts that the huge amounts of power needed for industries to function can be derived from nuclear energy, and so it will be beneficial for Ghana to explore that option.
Speaking at the Nuclear Forum on Ghana’s Nuclear Power Programme in Accra, Professor Debrah admonished Ghana to harness the benefits of nuclear energy.
“You are a country that sits within a subregion that is technically energy poor, and you are one of the countries that will be able to provide electricity to the subregion. This is a fact. You go to Nigeria and their frequency modulation is even a challenge, and Ghana sits in a very good place to provide that electricity. What sort of electricity are you providing to the people? Now you are even restricted by the Nationally Determined Contributions that you have committed to the climate change, so are you going solar, which is good, but will solar be able to back your industrialization drive? Will the renewables be able to do that? That is something we need to look at.”
Professor Debrah also spoke on the fears expressed by many on the potential dangers of nuclear energy and gave strong assurances that Ghanaians need not have any fears should nuclear energy be introduced.
“What people see most is the mushroom bomb that was thrown in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. People think that if we are bringing nuclear, we are bringing a bomb. Nuclear can never go off as a bomb. There are clear distinctions between what a nuclear power plant is and what a bomb is.”
