HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE INTRODUTION OF

NUCLEAR POWER IN GHANA

B. J. B. NYARKO, G. EMI-REYNOLDS , E.H.K. AKAHOGHANA ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSIONP.O. BOX LG 80, LEGON-ACCRA, GHANA

E-MAIL: b.nyarko@gaecgh.org

Technical/Workshop on Topical Issues on Infrastructure Development: Managing the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power

9-12 February 2010, Vienna, Austria

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

LEGAL & REGULATORY PROGRAMMES

NON-DEGREE TRAINING

CONCLUSIONS

The total land area of Ghana is about 238,460 sq km and shares 2,093 km of land borders with three neighbouring countries (Burkina Faso {538 km} at the north; Cote d’ Ivoire {668 km} at the west and Togo {887 km} at the east).

Ghana has 539 km of coastline with the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean

The country has a tropical climate with temperatures generally between 21 and 32 o

C with rainy and dry seasons

INTRODUCTION

Ghana Africa

In 1961, Government of Ghana decided to undertake the Ghana Nuclear Reactor Project

2MW Soviet Reactor to be used for Research, Training and Production of Isotopes

President Nkrumah in his Statement intended that Universities and GAEC will develop Human Resource for generating nuclear electricity to supplement the hydro-electricity.

Unfortunately, the nuclear programme has not developed as expected due to various socio-economic and political factors.

Presently, research activities of GAEC supported by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation are centred on non-power application of Nuclear and Biotechnology techniques

- Crop improvement, Pest management- Food preservation and Medical Sterilisation- Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine- Non-destructive techniques using radioisotopes and tracers for trouble-shooting and optimization of petrochemical and mining industries.

Low power research reactor is used for Research, Education and Training

Ghana’s electricity demand is growing at a high rate of about 7% per annum over the last ten years due to high population growth, economic aspiration and extension electricity to rural areas.

Electricity supply, on the contrary, has been unable to meet the demand due to high dependency on rain-fed hydropower plants, which started operating in 1965 and currently account for about 68% of the total installed capacity

Within the last 28 years, climatic changes and draughts have caused the nation to experience three major power crises.

The Government in 1997 installed thermal plants based on light Crude Oil.

Ghana has no domestic coal resources.

The Government of Ghana is concerned with limited further growth potential of domestic hydro; high cost of imported oil and gas and environmental issues associated with the use of imported coal.

Small Solar and wind generation exist in some sectors, but potential large-scale development is not envisioned for the near future.

The President of Ghana set up a Committee involving Stakeholder Institutions to formulate the Nuclear Power Policy and develop the basic elements of Nuclear Infrastructure and to assess the viability of introducing the nuclear power option in Ghana’s energy mix.

Cabinet took a decision to introduce the nuclear power option after the Committee submitted its report to the President in 2008.

DEGREE PROGRAMMES Need for skilled human resource for nuclear

practice cannot be overlooked in the quest of any nation to adopt the technology.

Need for capacity building for the operating organization staff.

It is necessary for the operating organization to establish the rigor, culture, ethics and discipline needed to effectively manage nuclear power technology with due regard to the associated safety, security and nonproliferation considerations.

Plan to gradually develop local suppliers and expertise.

The regulatory body needs to develop the capabilities to plan and implement the review and safety assessment activities of the proposed facility throughout its life.

30–50 staff members would be necessary for starting the implementation of a nuclear power plant programme.

The development of a national academic programme for the education of the necessary scientists, engineers and other technicians to support technical research is currently on-going.

GAEC jointly established the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences with the University of Ghana in collaboration with the IAEA for the award of M. Phil. and Ph. D degrees. (“Sandwich” Ph.D. Offered by IAEA and French Government)

The vision of the School is to be a leading graduate school producing high caliber nuclear scientists and engineers for health care, industry, and environment and for the socio-economic development of Ghana and Africa.

The mission of the School is for the preservation, maintenance and enhancement of nuclear knowledge in Ghana and Africa for the provision of high quality teaching, research, entrepreneurship training, service and development through graduate programmes in nuclear sciences and technology.

Four academic intakes have been done at the School beginning from 2006/07 academic year.

There are currently ten programmes and five Departments in the School.

Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications currently offers courses leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Applied Nuclear Physics, Nuclear and Radiochemistry, Nuclear and Environmental Protection and Nuclear Earth Sciences.

Department of Nuclear Safety and Security currently offers a course leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Radiation Protection.

Department of Nuclear Engineering currently offers courses leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Nuclear Engineering with options in Reactor Physics and Reactor Engineering; and Computational Nuclear Sciences and Engineering.

Department of Nuclear Agriculture and Radiation Processing currently offers courses leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Nuclear Agriculture

The Department of Medical Physics currently offers a course leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Medical Physics.

Main Entrance to School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences

SNAS’s Administration Block & Conference Room

National Nuclear Security Support Centre

Lecture Theatres & Offices

LEGAL & REGULATORY PROGRAMMES

The Legal Section of GAEC assists in the training of students on nuclear law and legislation.

Each student of the SNAS is required to take a course in Nuclear Law and Legislation to instruct them on the regulations in the Nuclear industry.

NON DEGREE TRAINING The IAEA approved several Technical Cooperation (TC)

projects with the aim of helping Ghana to develop the basic infrastructure for her Nuclear Power programme.

Ghana has also benefited from IAEA’s Regional and International projects aimed at developing and upgrading the human resource needs of the country’s nuclear industry.

Ghana has already completed the national project “Planning for Sustainable Energy Development”, GHA/0/008. Through this project Ghanaian stakeholders in energy have gained insights into the use of IAEA energy planning tools, MAED, WASP and MESSAGE. The findings made in this study have led to another IAEA TC project GHA/0/011, which is on nuclear power planning.

The IAEA has through its TC programmes established key facilities and laboratories that are very essential for education and training in the nuclear industry.

Ghana has participated and is still participating in coordinated research projects with the IAEA which help to increase the nuclear knowledge base of the country.

The recently held Workshop on Human Resource Development in Accra is an example of the partnership with IAEA.

The Workshop afforded us the opportunity to review our curriculum and fashion out an efficient way of training personnel for the nuclear power programme.

CONCLUSIONS

Ghana is set to introduce nuclear power to ensure the realization of our economic goals.

Training of nuclear personnel shall assist the nation to adequately prepare for the introduction of nuclear power in the country.

Introduction of Nuclear Law and Legislation into the curriculum of the School is to enable graduands have adequate training on the laws governing nuclear practice.

The designation of SNAS as a Centre of Excellence for African Masters degree in Nuclear Science shall enable us train human resource in nuclear technology for the sustenance of nuclear knowledge in Africa and beyond.

The Workshop on Human Resource Development for Nuclear Power in Ghana has assisted us to initiate efforts to direct our curriculum towards the nuclear power programme and its associated research.

The support of the GoG, University of Ghana and IAEA in establishment of the School is commended

THANK YOU