The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) is training 1,000 personnel in the safe handling of nuclear isotopes towards the establishment of a nuclear power plant by the year 2018.
Professor Edward H. K. Akaho, Director-General of GAEC, however, gave the assurance that the adverse effects associated with nuclear plant would be reduced to the minimum, since the uranium to fire the plant was not going to be processed in the country.
He explained that initially the country would depend on imported enriched uranium to operate the plant and thereby reduce accidents related to processing.
He also noted that nuclear technology had advanced and that nuclear plants now had safety devices to correct manual errors to prevent disasters.
Prof. Akaho said the training programme would include many professionals such as medical doctors to identify and treat people exposed to nuclear and radio isotopes.
The director-general, who was addressing medical officers from 14 African countries on a training course on “ Practical medical preparedness and response to a radiation emergency”, also assured Ghanaians that the spent fuel from the nuclear plant would be transported back to the suppliers.
He said this would help remove the danger that could arise from keeping high levels of nuclear waste from the plant in the country.
Prof. Akaho said while the capabilities of the staff were being upgraded, the government had signed international conventions to put the legal framework in place.
He said GAEC and the government were scouting for land close to the sea, where conditions would be more congenial for the construction of the plant.
He said the political will to see to the establishment of the plant was overwhelming and expressed the hope that this would continue to enable the vision to materialise.
Prof. Akaho said ex-President Kwame Nkrumah had a plan to establish nuclear plant in the country after the construction of the Akosombo Dam but because of his overthrow, the programme was shelved.
He expressed the hope that this time around, the political will to establish the plant would not fizzle out and any new President who would come to power would see to the execution of the project.
Paapa Owusu Ankomah, Minister of Trade, Industries, Private Sector Development and President’s Special Initiatives, who opened the workshops on radiation and quality control, said the courses had been designed to mitigate the effects of radiation emergencies.
He explained that the training was part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) global efforts to assist member states to review policies relating to establishing and strengthening technical capabilities for planning for response to radiological and nuclear emergencies.
Paapa Ankomah urged the participants to take into account the extent of practices involving nuclear and radiation-based technologies in the various member states in order to come up with a specific action plan that could meet international standards.
No comments:
Post a Comment