Ghana is to host a centre for the training of nuclear scientists in Africa, the country’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, Papa Owusu-Akomah, has hinted.
He told the Ghanaian Times in an interview at Glasgow, Scotland in the UK that these scientists would use nuclear-based technology to deal with cancer and other issues on the continent.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), last Monday, he said full disclosure of the project would be announced in the coming months.
“Ghana, will shortly… probably in the next few months, there would be an announcement that (Ghana) is going to be the centre for training of nuclear scientists to work against cancer, among others in certain parts of Africa”, he said.
The disclosure comes at a time Ghana’s Nuclear Power Institute says it is awaiting a presidential announcement of the official inclusion of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix to pave the way for the implementation of the next phase of the nuclear power programme to begin after many years.
Already, phase one of the programme which includes human resource and pre-feasibility study, the establishment of legal and regulatory frameworks to set the tone for the declaration— technically known as the National Position — had been completed with Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) assessing responses of five vendors from the United States, Russia, Canada, and South Korea for collaboration.
Mr Owusu-Akomah, a former Member of Parliament for Sekondi, who was speaking on how the country was diversifying its energy mix as part of efforts to address climate change, said the selection of Ghana for the training centre highlighted the country’s progressive role in many endeavours on the continent, including the climate change fight.
The former Attorney General and Minister of Justice said it was important that the country was looking for an alternative source of power because the world was gradually moving away from fossil fuels because of their impact on climate change.
“In Europe and North America, there have been calls to stop using vehicles that use fossil energy. They are using electric vehicles. Now, the world is talking about wind power generated energy, solar power generated energy, and morecurrently, nuclear-generated energy,”he said.
Touching on the COP26, Mr Owusu-Ankomah charged Ghana’s delegation to ensure they get measurable outcomes to justify their inclusion and the resources spent on them.
“We need to get measurable outcomes after such programmes. We attend international conferences and it does not reflect in the results. We have provided a focal person and we are going to set measurable outcomes and convey them into capital to ensure that the amount we spent on these conferences just doesn’t become talk shops. If some other countries choose this as a talk shop, we are not that financially endowed so we should make sure we get definitive outcomes,”he said.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
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