Osagyefo's pro-nuclear energy dream - 50years on
That we are in the midst of an energy crisis is no news to anybody. Commerce and individuals are suffering under the strain that it brings, and constant promises by politicians have been nothing but words so far.
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What would probably come as a surprise to everyone, however, is that the long-term solution to this problem was birthed 50 years ago in the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).
As the institution celebrates its golden jubilee, there seems no better time in our history, incidentally, to push a case for nuclear energy as a viable solution to the energy crisis, and to confine frequent power outages to the pages of history.
In view of this, I strongly urge Government to give serious consideration to revisiting Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s early energy policy for our dear nation Ghana.
Ghana needs it now, more than ever.
If I have learnt nothing at all from my studies in nuclear physics, I do know this: apart from the Akosombo hydro-electric plant which Dr. Kwame Nkrumah initiated and enforced in our country against all odds, he was also pro-nuclear energy, and was in the process of completing a 2-Megawatt reactor purchased from Russia to study the then evolving nuclear technology.
He purchased the landscape from Atomic Junction (near Madina) through Haatso and Kwabenya, for the establishment and study of atomic and nuclear sciences in Ghana, which would have been the first nuclear reactor in the West Africa sub-region, but he never lived to see it materialize. The least said about the lands, the better.
His political opponents claimed that Akosombo and other energy plans he proposed were a waste of money and resources.
Deeply skeptical Ghanaian bigwigs and stalwarts encouraged the usual Ghanaian attitude of, “This one, we can’t do it … we don’t have the technology and the manpower; the resources and the money.”
Yet Osagyefo forged ahead! And to this day, this same Akosombo Dam has been the obvious lifeline for Ghana.
In the late 1950s, amidst sources of energy such as hydro, coal, solar, wind, and with the Akosombo hydro-electric plant already in operation, Osagyefo foretold nuclear power technology as the future.
Out of this came the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC). This was 50 years ago. He said, “We have been compelled to enter the field of Atomic Energy because this already promises to yield the greatest economic source of power since the beginning of man. Our success in this field will enable us solve the many-sided problems which face us in all the spheres of our development in Ghana and Africa…”
Note carefully, that during that period only a few western countries recognized the potential benefits of nuclear technology, especially after Japan had suffered the dark effects of nuclear technology in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing incidents.
But in spite of all this, this same Japan bought into nuclear technology and currently runs dozens of nuclear power plants!
Let us take just a minute and imagine what Ghana would be today, had Osagyefo completed his vision for the Nuclear Energy Policy in Ghana.
This nation could very well have been one of the world’s most powerful sustainable Nuclear Technological countries in the world! Unfortunately his vision and dream for Ghana was cut short – but it is not yet dead.
Pessimistic and uninformed individuals may argue that Ghana does not have what it takes; does not have the “brains” or technology, the initial capital, to initiate and establish a sustainable Nuclear Energy Policy, and all sorts of other colourful excuses. Of those people, I ask this question: Did Ghana have the technology to go hydro-electric in the days of Osagyefo? Did Ghana have the resources and manpower?
Did Ghana have the initial capital? Did Ghana have grounds to go hydro-electric? Yet, Akosombo has been in operation for nearly 50 years, and has been one of the best decisions ever to have been made for Ghana in our history!
When else are we going to tap into the nuclear energy technology for sustainable development, if not now? Should it be another 50 years? Many I have interacted with say electricity produced from nuclear sources in Ghana will be impossible, pointing to the mismanagement of our existing energy resources.
However, where nuclear energy is concerned, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has oversight responsibility of the raw material, manpower and management.
No country is left to manage it on their own, ensuring that international standards are met. Security and safety of the facility thus becomes the responsibility not of the country, but the whole international community.
On the issue of nuclear waste disposal, most countries that operate nuclear plants send the waste back to the manufacturers.
With the present state of affairs, it would be difficult – and indeed costly, should we depend on our present resources – for Ghana to become a manufacturing nation without a boost in available energy, and a promise of constant supply.
France has about 80% of its energy coming from nuclear power plants, and Germany buys about a quarter of this supply to power manufacturing industries.
It’s not too late! While the GAEC celebrate 50 years of existence, this Government, under President John Mahama, can re-kindle the dream of constant power supply with Osagyefo’s Nuclear Energy Policy.
50 years ago, the GAEC was established with a dream that sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology and Development was the key to the growth of Ghana and Africa.
If that dream had materialized Ghana and Africa could have been at the peak of nuclear technology right now, and Ghana and Africa would be a much better place, in the global setting!
Sadly, nothing of note has been heard of this promise since 2006, when during one of the most devastating power crisis ever experienced in Ghana, the then President J. A. Kuffour set up a committee to evaluate and plan the possible establishment of a nuclear power plant in Ghana.
Unfortunately the proposal of the committee is probably on the shelves of the national archives gathering dust. In the midst of our energy crisis and all our economic development problems, the introduction, implementation, construction and operation of a sustainable Nuclear Energy Power Plant, amidst the mix of our energy options, is the key to national development for Ghana.
So while the GAEC celebrates, may we see the political will, the insight and foresight to introduce, implement, construct and operate the first Nuclear Power Plant ever in the sub-region of West Africa and Ghana.
Article by Christian Amevi Adjei
Writer email's: [email protected]