Engineers Campaign For Nuclear Programme

The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has called on all stakeholders to support the Ghana nuclear power programme to bridge the gap between projected future energy demand and dwindling power generating capacity to drive the country's industrial transformation agenda.

The GhIE President, Ing. Steve A. Amoaning-Yankson, made this call when he delivered a welcome address at a two-day international workshop on quality control/quality assurance organised under the auspices of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO), in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Expert Mission, to review the integration of quality in the management system of GNPPO. The workshop was held at the Engineers Centre (Roman Ridge) in Accra on Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

The theme for the workshop was “Modern Trends in Quality Standards and Quality Management; Featuring a Component on Ghana Nuclear Power Development'.

The workshop evaluated Ghana's readiness for the implementation of the Ghana nuclear power programme, and also assessed the progress made so far.

In his speech, the Board Chairman of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Dr Kwaku Aning, emphasized that the vision of Ghana harnessing nuclear energy to enhance its national development projects was conceived at the time of independence.

Participants were also taken through presentations on some quality control best practices in the world, with panel discussion on leadership and quality management in engineering infrastructure.

Closing the workshop, the Ag. Executive Director of GhIE, Ing. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, commended the foresight of ex-President J.A. Kufuor for setting up the Prof. Adjei Bekoe Presidential Committee chaired by Prof Adjei Bekoe, which culminated in the decision of cabinet to include nuclear into the energy mix in 2018.

Ing. Agyepong added that since 2015, Ghana has been working with experts from the IAEA to develop a better understanding of nuclear power infrastructure development, geared towards generating electricity from nuclear power by the next 15 years.