By Mike Felix Okoth
Have you ever wondered about the potential for Africa, a continent rich in untapped resources, to make significant strides toward a more sustainable future? The adoption and development of nuclear power in Africa offers a critical opportunity that can revolutionize Africa’s energy landscape and drive its socioeconomic agenda. Such an opportunity presents the potential to provide low-carbon energy that ensures clean energy access, facilitates climate change mitigation, diversifies energy sources, and unlocks numerous socioeconomic benefits.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
With its wide range of resources, Africa has the capacity to embrace nuclear power as a sustainable practice that will yield numerous positive impacts benefiting many people worldwide. Through a well-planned strategy, the challenges involved and environmental concerns of developing nuclear energy can be addressed to pave the way for sustainable growth in Africa and eventually contribute to global sustainability efforts.
Nuclear energy can potentially contribute greatly to Africa’s access to clean energy. The rapid population growth in Africa has necessitated the provision of a clean, reliable energy source, and nuclear energy presents a promising solution.
CARBON EMISSIONS
According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (2020), nuclear power has significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions with 60 gigatonnes decrease over the last fifty years, equivalent to two years’ worth of energy-related emissions.
The IAEA (2020) report also highlights that 30 countries are actively generating nuclear power, resulting in an impressive annual reduction of approximately two gigatonnes in global emissions, equivalent to removing four hundred million cars from the roads yearly.
CLIMATE CHANGE
These findings clearly illustrate nuclear power’s impact on combating climate change and promoting a more sustainable future. This is because nuclear power is a low-carbon energy source that helps in the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Such a substantial impact can foster sustainability and facilitate the transition towards a low-carbon energy sector – a critical endeavor for Africa, considering its projected rapid population growth in the coming years (Population and Development in Africa, n.d.).
Therefore, developing and adopting nuclear energy in Africa can contribute significantly towards addressing climate change, promoting sustainability, and facilitating a transition into a more environmentally friendly future. Nuclear energy can help diversify Africa’s energy mix.
BASE-LOAD POWER
Most African countries have unreliable energy sources despite the high energy demand. To address this drawback, one effective approach is to diversify Africa’s energy sources by combining renewable energy to sources with nuclear power, which according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (2019), has the advantage of providing low-carbon energy day and night at all times of the year. This aspect especially benefits most African countries needing a reliable and secure energy supply. By integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind alongside nuclear, Africa can also effectively reduce the risk of relying solely on one energy source that is often weather dependant or even fossil fuels.
POWER OUTAGES
Nuclear power is also considered dependable and stable thus, a perfect combination with other energy sources assures a steady electricity supply. This helps in reducing the occurrence of power outages and enhances energy security. Hence the diversification of Africa’s energy sources to include nuclear power establishes a more secure and dependable energy infrastructure and reduces the reliance on fossil fuels, thus reducing the environmental impacts.
The development of nuclear energy can also provide major socio-economic benefits to Africa. Such projects can help drive economic empowerment and boost local community development by providing varying employment opportunities. According to the World Nuclear Association (n.d.), around 200,000 job years are created for every 1,000 MWe of nuclear power built.
HIGH QUALITY JOBS
The adoption and development of nuclear energy in Africa therefore offers a desirable impact of creating employment opportunities during the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. This raises the locals’ standard of living, stimulates the local community’s growth and development, and steers them toward economic stability.
The nuclear energy sector can also attract foreign investments that cultivate a thriving energy-related economy and its constituent growth and development. Some of these investments may include aspects of research and development that may promote technology transfer and knowledge sharing.
This will increase Africa’s scientific and engineering capabilities and empower Africans with advanced skills and expertise that establish the continent as technologically progressive, self-sufficient, and prosperous in the nuclear energy sector.
CHALLENGES AND RISKS
Nuclear energy has potential, but it also comes with challenges and risks. One such challenge is ensuring safety, considered vital in nuclear operations and can only be achieved by strictly adhering to internationally set safety standards. The International Atomic Energy Agency (2017) stresses the need and importance of setting strict regulatory measures at the country level to improve and enhance global nuclear security.
These measures include implementing strict guidelines and regulatory frameworks that African countries can adopt to ensure nuclear security and the safety of nuclear plants. Nuclear power uses radio-active 3 material, which presents a challenge in managing the nuclear waste generated.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Radioactive nuclear waste is harmful and can lead to health hazards and environmental contamination if not properly managed. Proper disposal and storage of radioactive nuclear waste can be achieved by adopting advanced technologies and very secure storage facilities that safeguard people and the environment from the waste.
To mitigate risks to human health and the environment, such facilities should adhere to strict safety standards and be established in geologically stable areas. Furthermore, one of the challenges lies in the general public perception regarding the production and use of nuclear power. The general public often expresses concerns about the safety risks associated with nuclear power while overlooking its benefits.
ACCURATE INFORMATION
To alleviate these concerns, offering sufficient accurate information regarding the implemented safety precautions and the advantages associated with adopting and using nuclear power is crucial. By doing this, Africa can enhance the acceptance of nuclear power usage and foster vital trust in promoting nuclear energy.
By addressing and acknowledging these challenges, adopting nuclear energy in Africa can ensure benefits while minimizing the associated risks. In conclusion, nuclear power presents a promising solution to address African countries’ continuously growing energy demands.
CONCLUSION
Adopting nuclear energy offers many benefits, including clean energy access, climate change mitigation, energy diversification, and socioeconomic progress. Consequently, nuclear energy is pivotal in reshaping Africa’s energy landscape and socioeconomic development agenda.
Therefore, all stakeholders need to consider adopting nuclear energy in Africa to foster a more sustainable energy landscape that aligns with sustainable development goal number seven and promotes sustainable economic growth that aligns with sustainable development goal eight.
References
Climate change and nuclear power 2020. (2020). Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency.
Enhancing Regulatory Framework for Nuclear Security in Africa. (2017). IAEA. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/enhancing-regulatory-framework-for-nuclear-se curity-in-africa
Nuclear and renewables: playing complementary roles in hybrid energy systems. (2019). IAEA. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear-and-renewables-playing-complementary -roles-in-hybrid-energy-systems
Population and development in Africa. (n.d.). United Nations Population Fund. https://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-and-development-africa
World Nuclear Association – World Nuclear Association. (n.d.). https://www.world-nuclear.org/sustainable-development-goals-and-nuclear/sdg8.aspx