Last Updated 15 years ago by Kenya Engineer
Kenya is seeking sites at the coast for the construction of a nuclear power plant, Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi said in a government notice. The government has formed a committee to help identify the sites and ensure that all the terms and conditions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) necessary for the approval of a nuclear power plant are met.
“Prepare and endorse a detailed road map for the realization of the milestones and time lines for approval by the IAEA,” Kiraitu Murungi said in the notice outlining the mandate of the 13-member committee. Earlier this year Kenya’s National and Social Council (NESC) recommended that Kenya embark on a programme to start generating nuclear energy by 2020 to meet the growing demand for electricity.
The NESC is mandated with providing the government with new policies to accelerate economic growth, create employment and reduce poverty in an economy where agriculture accounts for a quarter of the gross domestic product.
Kenya views nuclear power both as a long term solution of high fuel costs – incurred during times of drought when diesel generators are used – and an effective way to cut carbon emissions from the power generating sector.
Kenya’s main electricity producer KenGen, is already hunting for a partner to produce nuclear power by 2022 to help match-up rising demand and diversify from hydropower. The power producer projects that Kenya as a whole could produce 4,200 megawatts using nuclear by 2022.
Kenya relies on hydro power to generate about 65 per cent of its electricity but has began channeling investments towards geothermal plants and wind farms to diversify energy sources.
Drought hit dam levels badly in 2009 and hydropower’s share of energy production slumped to just 30 per cent forcing KenGen to use fuel powered generators to try and plug the shortfall.
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