HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE INTRODUTION OF NUCLEAR POWER IN GHANA

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HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE
INTRODUTION OF NUCLEAR POWER IN GHANA

• B. J. B. NYARKO, G. EMI-REYNOLDS , E.H.K. AKAHO
• GHANA ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
• P.O. BOX LG 80, LEGON-ACCRA, GHANA
• E-MAIL b.nyarko_at_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

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

• INTRODUCTION
• DEGREE PROGRAMMES
• LEGAL REGULATORY PROGRAMMES
• NON-DEGREE TRAINING
• CONCLUSIONS

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INTRODUCTION

• 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

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• Ghana

• Africa

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• 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.

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• 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

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• Ghanas 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

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• 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.

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

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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.

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• 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.
• 3050 staff members would be necessary for
  starting the implementation of a nuclear power
  plant programme.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Main Entrance to School of Nuclear and Allied
Sciences
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SNASs Administration Block Conference Room
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National Nuclear Security Support Centre
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Lecture Theatres Offices
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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.

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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 IAEAs Regional and
  International projects aimed at developing and
  upgrading the human resource needs of the
  countrys 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.

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• 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.

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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.

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• 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

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• THANK YOU