Status, opportunities, and challenges of nuclear power development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Ghana
Introduction
Energy experts and policy makers around the world recognize the central role of energy in promoting economic development. Many international reports also show that energy deficits do not only have a negative effect on economic development but more importantly strengthen gender and wealth inequalities (Africa Progress Panel, 2015; Global Environment Outlook, 2020; UN Women, 2018). Accordingly, sustainable energy has been identified as a mainstay of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, lack of electricity hampers industrial activities and consequently the creation of employment and subsequent negative effect on government revenues (IEA, 2019; Africa Energy Outlook, 2019; Global Environment Outlook, 2020). Castellano et al. (2015) asserted that globally, countries that have their electrification rates less than 80% consistently suffer reduced gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The IEA report indicates that in 2018, as much as 80% of SSA firms suffered frequent electricity disruptions leading to economic losses. In many SSA countries, nearly 80% depend on the traditional use of solid biomass (mainly firewood) for cooking and this is expected to cause over 12 million deaths by 2050 if action is not taken (Africa Energy Outlook, 2019; UNEP, 2019; Global Environment Outlook, 2020). The energy poverty problem in SSA is seen, for example, in the fact that the 48 SSA countries produce approximately same quantity of electrical power as generated by Spain, whose population is less than a tenth of SSA. Obviously, some action needs to be taken to deal with the energy constraint and therefore all choices must be on the table to help generate sufficient and cost-effective energy for its ever-increasing population, which is anticipated to reach 2.8 billion by 2060. Morrisey (2017, p.5) describes the energy poverty situation as follows:
Energy-poor households suffer from a wide range of impacts, from increased risk of premature death due to indoor pollution to forgone productivity gains and lower quality of life. On top of these impacts, energy-poor households must spend a greater proportion of their income to meet their basic energy needs. They also spend more time engaging in energy-intensive tasks than do wealthier households who have access to modern energy sources.
It is in this light that renewable energy and nuclear technology have been targeted by international organizations, energy and environmental analysts as an efficient energy source. The use of nuclear energy to generate electricity has gone up over the past two decades, with the largest increase occurring in 2016 and expected to increase by 25% by 2050 (World Nuclear Performance Report, 2017; Adams and Nsiah, 2019; Sarkodie et al., 2020).
The nuclear energy agenda therefore has become a strategy to enhance the existing energy infrastructure, and the search for energy sources that are reliable, affordable and sustainable. Zhiznin et al. (2020), for example, report that without nuclear power, CO2 emissions from electricity production would be almost 20% higher, and total energy related emissions 6% higher over the past half century. On July 2015, ten African countries formed a new initiative, the African Network for Enhancing Nuclear Power Programme Development (ANENP) to promote nuclear power in the region. The countries that came together to establish ANENP include: Uganda, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Niger and Ghana.
Though nuclear power could contribute to clean energy, it comes with challenges, occupational health safety and environmental risks (Bersano et al., 2020; World Nuclear Energy Performance Report, 2017; Zhiznin et al., 2020; Gyamfi et al., 2020). The production of nuclear power from uranium does not only generate electrical power but also spent fuel as well as high-levels of toxic radioactive waste (HLW) as a by-product, which cause burns and increase the risk of cancers, blood related diseases, and bone decay (Chung, 2020; Horvath and Rachlew, 2016; Yadav et al., 2017; D'Arienzo et al., 2017; Friedstat et al., 2017; Coleman et al., 2017; Weiss, 2020). This has led to questions of environmental safety and occupational health concerns for the promotion of nuclear energy. Others, also point to the high expenditures associated with nuclear power plants especially for volatile and poor countries without the requisite institutional and regulatory framework to manage the station (Rogner, 2012; Hickey et al., 2021). For low and middle income countries, the challenge is that the allocation of scarce governmental resources toward nuclear power plant will occur at the expense of other important programmes like education, health and physical infrastructure (Goldemberg, 2009).
Ghana, one of the most stable and democratic SSA countries in recent years has embarked on an ambitious programme of nuclear energy production to improve access to electricity in the country. This study reviews the challenges and opportunities available and more importantly provides policy recommendations in promoting secure, safe and environmentally friendly nuclear energy. The remaining sections of the paper is structured as follows: The next section presents an overview of nuclear energy projects in Africa, which is followed by the discussion of the trend, rationale and challenges of nuclear energy and finally, policy implications per the findings of the studies reviewed and concluding remarks are offered.
Section snippets
Overview of nuclear energy in Africa
The demand for nuclear energy seems to have finally caught on in Africa as the debate over whether the continent is ready intensifies (Agyekum et al., 2020; Kincer and Lovering, 2021). The World Bank (2019) and Africa Energy Outlook (2019) reports show that there will be over 600 million people without access to electricity and 1 billion without access to clean cooking energy with majority coming from SSA. The report, however notes that Ghana is among five countries that have made significant
Status and trends of nuclear energy
Notwithstanding the known challenges that come along with any technological progression, there have been positive results and huge development effect to society. Approximately 5,7% and 13% of worlds’ energy and global electricity, respectively are provided by 443 nuclear power reactors located in thirty-one (30) countries generated a total a total 2657 TWh of electricity in 2019, up from 2563 TWh in 2018, and second only to the 2661 TWh generated in 2006 (IAEA, 2019; World Nuclear Performance
Rationale and challenges
Nuclear power plants are known to produce clean energy and are air pollution free or a reliable source of zero carbon power (Moss, 2018). Jewell (2011) has noted that the two key advantages for the rising importance of nuclear energy are related to energy security and energy efficiency effects (IAEA, 2007a). More than half a century ago, Laurence (1955) claimed that nuclear energy had the potential to generate electricity in abundance such that it would be “too cheap to meter.” Additionally,
Overcoming barriers to nuclear technology
The studies reviewed show that interest in nuclear energy has grown around the globe because of the benefits associated with its use. However, there are threats or barriers that have to be overcome before nuclear power could have the desired impact in Africa as presented in Fig. 1. The four main barriers to be overcome are grid size, funding inadequacy, technology, regulatory and human capital constraints, and occupational health, safety and security concerns.
Grid size
The issue of inadequate grid capacity is a big problem especially in developing countries. The World Nuclear Association (2017) and IAEA (2017) report that many countries in developing have grid size of less than 5 GWe, which is inadequate to contain most of the reactor designs available. The IAEA suggests that technical prerequisite for electricity grid for nuclear power execution should be greater than 10 GWe. This suggests that to be able to develop nuclear energy, grid strengthening should
Financing
Second, funding requirements for nuclear power plants are so huge such that many African countries are constrained in pursuing a nuclear agenda. Over four decades ago, Polliart and Goodman (1976) observed that apart from the licensing and regulatory inadequacy, funding constraints remain a very critical problem for African countries. Similarly, Meierding (2017) identifies financial limitation as the main hindrance to Africa's desire to develop nuclear energy, as initial investments are in the
Human capital
Human resources and the domestic technical capabilities to develop and manage nuclear reactors are critical to the development of nuclear power (Deutch et al., 2003; USAID Power Africa Fact Sheet, 2020). It is worthy of mention that the knowledge used in electric power generation is not adequate for designing and implementing a nuclear power project (Polliart and Goodman, 1976). Falco (2015) claims that both human and non-human actors are critical in promoting a nuclear safe environment through
Occupational health and safety concerns
Finally, the use of nuclear energy implies the generation of radioactive wastes that have to be controlled and managed adequately to protect man and his environment from the potential radiological hazard they pose at present and in future. Assurance that suitable systems exist to safely manage and dispose of all kinds of radioactive wastes has become critical in the public debate about the development of nuclear power. The nuclear accident in Fukushima (Japan) has brought the subject of safety
Conclusion
The study examined the status, trend, rationale and barriers to be overcome by SSA countries and more specifically Ghana before nuclear power development should be considered. The good news for Ghana in developing a nuclear power is the fact that Ghana is one of the most stable countries in the SSA region and one of the few that is far ahead in consolidating its democracy (Huntington, 1991; Adams and Agomor, 2015). It is worthy of note that in the last decade, Ghana has performed the best in
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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