Ngigi Kamau, Alternative Energy Africa Kenyan Contributor
The Kenyan government has set up a nuclear electricity project committee to fast track the development of the country’s nuclear electricity. This comes on the heels of the government’s announcement that it would not grant guarantees for the financing of six electricity generation projects, including the 300 MW Lake Turkana Wind Power initiative (Kenya’s Delays Lake Turkana Wind).
Speaking to Alternative Energy Africa, Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike said the government set aside about $2.5 million through July 2011, as initial capital for the venture whose target is to produce at least 1,000 MW from nuclear sources. “We have in mind South Korean technology which could have a construction outlay of $3.5 billion," said Nyoike.
“Of course this will require a huge capital investment but operating costs are very low in the electricity generation industry, the thermals are expensive” he told reporters in the East African nation’s capital, Nairobi saying the plant should be up and running by 2017.
The 13-member committee appointed by the country’s Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi will come up with a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for nuclear power.
At an interview in the capital Nairobi, committee chairman Ochilo Ayacko told Alternative Energy Africa that about sh18 billion was invested in the Sondu Miriu hydropower plant, but it only supplies 16 MW to the national grid.
Ayacko said Kenya has no other option to guarantee sustainable growth under the Vision 2030 economic blueprint other than to pursue nuclear energy adding that his team will begin work by Q1 2011. He downplays nuclear waste management saying his team consists of experts in various areas such as chemists, physicists, environmentalists, and lawyers.
According to Dr. Simon Kariuki, a Kenyan technical engineer in nuclear reactor safety in Canada, the first step towards building and operating a nuclear power plant will be to establish a nuclear power program. “It will involve enacting a law in parliament, which will form the basis for developing a legal/regulatory frame work covering all aspects of nuclear material, developing technical expertise and human resources that ensures nuclear material is solely used for safe and secure generation of power,” Kariuki told Alternative Energy Africa.
However, is Kenya ready to construct and operate a nuclear power plant? Kariuki said no but added that in the mid-term, the country has the potential to embark on nuclear power generation activities.
In his estimate, since the country is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kenya has very limited technical capability. He said the lack of necessary regulations like the absence of a nuclear program and an operating research reactor poses obstacles for the country’s nuclear ambitions. The first step towards building and operating a nuclear power plant is to establish a nuclear power program, he added.
Plans to include nuclear energy in the national grid gained momentum in 2008 during a National Energy Conference to discuss a way forward for the East African country. A year later an Iranian delegation led by President Mahmoud Ahmednajad arrived in the country to strengthen ties in energy and trade. During the visit, the two countries signed 12 trade pacts on roads, water, oil, and nuclear power, among others.
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