On August 24, 2022 an event on Small Modular Reactor (hereinafter – “SMR”) technology was held in Accra, Ghana. The Workshop was organized as part of the cooperation between Russia and Ghana in the field of nuclear development.
The Workshop was opened by Mr. Ryan Collyer, CEO of Rosatom Central and Southern Africa. He emphasized the significance of the Ghanaian-Russian cooperation development in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, pursuing the strategic partnership of the two countries.
Rosatom made presentations about the differences between large scale nuclear power plants and SMR’s. The team highlighted the advantages, technical and safety aspects as well as the SMR licensing process.
Also the importance of economic aspects of SMR NPPs construction projects and public acceptance were noted. Ghanaian experts presented their vision of Ghana nuclear power sector development perspectives in order to understand objectives and milestones to be achieved.
Dr. Robert B. M. Sogbadji, Head of Nuclear and Alternative Energy at the Ministry of Energy of Ghana, made an overview of the Ghana nuclear programme. He said that the Ghanaian Ministry of Energy was developing a National Energy Transition Plan to guide the country in transitioning to cleaner energy, in which nuclear energy plays a critical role as baseload energy.
Both parties confirmed their interest in furthering dialogue in the sphere of SMR technology as well as agreed to coordinate joint work on a regular basis. The Russian Party expressed great interest in continuing bilateral consultations with the Ghanaian side.
An important statement was that the parties agreed to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) for coordination and information exchange with respect to Russian SMR technology solutions.
