The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum will go into an agreement with the State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia –ROSATOM- on the specifics of joint projects facilitating the implementation of plans by the Republic of Ghana to develop a nuclear industry.
This will take place in June when a team of Ghanaian officials, including the Ministers of Energy and Petroleum and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah and Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei as well as the Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Professor Benjamin J. Botwe Nyarko, participate in the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power for 21st Century in June, 2013.
According to Professor Nyarko, the move is a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Energy and ROSATOM last year in which the parties agreed to establish a bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Leading a ROSATOM delegation to call on the Minister for Energy and Petroleum on Thursday, he said the Parties would meet on the sidelines of the Conference to finalize a Memorandum of Agreement detailing the specifics of joint projects facilitating the implementation of plans by Ghana to develop a nuclear industry as well as other joint projects that are of common interest.
The ROSATOM team, which included Yury A. Sokolov, Vice President, Director-Department of Global Nuclear Infrastructure and Dmitry Bazhenov, Chief Expert, Marketing and Business Development Department, was accompanied by Igor Degtyarev, Minister-Counsellor Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Degtyarev told the Minister that Russia was willing to offer its assistance to Ghana in developing other power alternatives such as nuclear and expressed the hope that the Parties would meet at the Conference.
He used the opportunity to congratulate the Minister on his appointment and affirmed his country’s support for Ghana in the energy sector.
Mr Buah, for his part, said Ghana was committed to considering Nuclear energy as a viable option in power generation, adding that the time had come for tangible steps toward the realization of that goal.
According to him, the increasing demand for power in the country, as a result of economic growth, called for accelerated measures to venture into nuclear power, adding that the time has come for critical consideration of this option.
Mr. Buah said Ghana would ensure that it kept its side of agreement, saying ‘we are looking forward to working together to ensure that the country develops a nuclear energy infrastructure’.
Also at the meeting were Professor Thomas Akabzaa, Chief Director and Mr. Isaac Enninson, Head, Nuclear Department of the Ministry.