The United States of America and Ghana have signed two cooperation agreements seeking to support Ghana’s nuclear power programme.
They are the provision of the NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Centre and related services, and the establishment of Regional Welding Certificate Programme at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).
Professor Samuel Boakye Dampare, the Director-General, GAEC, signed on behalf of Ghana, while Madam Ann Ganzer, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, signed for the U.S. with her team.
The deployment of a NuScale E2 Centre in Ghana — a first for the African Continent – would be a key tool for preparing the workforce for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) deployment in the country and beyond.
The centre will provide a hands-on training facility to develop the next generation nuclear operators and engineers and establish Ghana as a regional educational and training hub for the next stage of safe and secure civil nuclear deployments in Africa.
The Welding Centre will also provide essential training and a unique skillset to enable Ghanaian technicians to qualify for construction jobs in the nuclear energy sector.
Funded by the FIRST Programme (US Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology), the certification will help to establish Ghana as part of a safe and secure SMR supply chain in the region.
In conjunction with those significant developments, the Nuclear Power Ghana was working on a cooperation agreement with Regnum Technology Group LLC to develop an industrial enclave utilising NuScale SMR nuclear power plant as its main source of energy, Madam Ganzer said.
She noted that the United States was committed to enabling the use of innovative clean energy technologies to enhance global access to zero emission, reliable power and to support sustainability, energy security, and climate goals.
Prof Dampare expressed joy at the development and said it would contribute to the development of human resource in the nuclear plant sector, especially the SMR.
He recalled processes leading to the outcome begun in 2023, at the Inter-Ministerial Conference held in Washington, USA, where officials of Ghana, United States and Japan initiated talks and processes towards that project.
“We are witnessing the first fruit of physical infrastructure to further deepen the initiative that was started in 2023.
I will support our nuclear education and stakeholder engagement drive and provide a hands-on training facility to develop and train the next generation nuclear operators and engineers,” he said.
The Regional Welding Training Centre, he said, would provide essential training in nuclear welding certification at international standards that enable young Ghanaians and other Africans qualify for jobs in the nuclear energy sector.
“This initiative is putting the future in the hands of the youth and providing the needed facilities to facilitate their training.
I urge Ghanaians and Africans to take full advantage of these facilities when they are completed in the coming months.”
