Mr Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, the Director of Renewable & Alternative Energies, Ministry of Energy, has intimated that, no country industrialized, without employing nuclear energy in the generation mix as it is a cheap energy source.
Speaking during a two-day workshop to sensitise journalists on energy reporting, he explained that nuclear energy, among all energy generation sources and processes, protect the environment and is a sustainable way to generate consumption energy.
He posited that, it was less costly to operate after construction and could provide power for many outlets as well as jobs for many people in the power generation value-chain, and beyond.
Mr Ahiataku-Togobo said some countries, including Ghana, were generating electricity from oil at 12 cents per kilowatt-hour when they could generate the same electricity from nuclear energy at only four cents per kilowatt-hour.
Since nuclear took about 15 years to operationalise, he said, it was prudent that Ghana adopted it within the shortest possible time.
“Anybody who is against Ghana’s nuclear agenda is clearly against Ghana’s movement towards industrialization. Any country which wants to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals needs nuclear energy.”
The Executive Director of the Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr Stephen Yamoah, also addressing the workshop stated that, Ghana was successful in going through the processes of the 19 milestones in the development of a national infrastructure for nuclear power adding that, the country was, therefore, in the process of seeking vendors to take an initiative.
Touching on the misconceptions attached to generating and using nuclear energy, he said that, people believed nuclear was associated with bombs and had serious repercussions on the environment.
He then debunked such misconceptions and said those were fallacies, explaining that it was rather the safest and harmless energy source as its production and waste management was strictly regulated.
Also speaking at the workshop, Mr Affail Monney, the President of GJA, said the greatest need of journalists was capacity building to enable them change the profile of every sector, including the energy sector.
He advised participants of the workshop to continue broadening their knowledge in the energy sector, especially in nuclear energy, bearing in mind that education was a process and not a destination.
He further assured all present, of the GJA’s willingness and readiness to support any journalist to contribute significantly towards the energy sector with impact-making stories.
The two-day workshop organised by the Nuclear Power Ghana, Volta River Authority, Bui Power Authority and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), to sensitise journalists on energy reporting, the pros and cons of nuclear energy and the need for them to specialise in energy reporting.
The workshop was on the theme: “Ghana’s Power Generation Plan and Current Options to Accelerate Industrial Development.”
