Kenya: Nuclear Energy Is the Way to Go If We're Serious About Achieving Vision 2030

Location: Kenya, Africa

By Basett Buyukah, 26 February 2012

opinion

Three significant developments took place in the world of nuclear energy recently. In Nairobi, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) released its 2012 Yearbook.

In London, the UK and France signed a deal to strengthen cooperation in the development of civil nuclear energy.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, safety regulators gave the go-ahead for the construction of two nuclear power reactors in Georgia, USA.

Let us first delve into the Unep Yearbook report, which has elicited lively debate. The piece focuses on decommissioning of nuclear power reactors at the end of their lifespans.

One of the experiences highlighted is that decommissioning the first generation of nuclear reactors would have been easier and less expensive if they had been designed with this stage in mind.

These findings are important and can enrich Kenya's pre-feasibility study. Recent debate has juxtaposed nuclear energy with renewable energy.

One school of thought leans on the premise that Kenya should concentrate on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal.

Indeed, Kenya has a geothermal potential of about 7,000MW, although only a fraction of that has been harnessed.

The Least Cost Power Development Plan 2011-2031 indicates that Kenya requires an installed capacity of at least 16,000MW.

That means that even if all the geothermal potential is harnessed, we would still have a significant deficit.

For Kenya to industrialise under the Vision 2030 blueprint, it requires a huge base load. This can be obtained from coal, nuclear, oil, and geothermal.

Wind, solar, and hydro are good for peaking rather than base load -- the constant or permanent load on a power supply.

It is distinguished from peak load, which is the maximum demand for electrical power. No country in the world has ever industrialised on wind, solar et al.

These are good enough for peaking purposes, but woefully inadequate to provide the electricity required for Vision 2030 to become a reality.

The reason is simple: industry requires an assured base load to function.

Planned megacities such as Konza and Tatu and major industrial projects will not see the light of day if the position that renewable energy alone suffices to power them becomes the preponderant view.

Currently, the installed generation capacity of the whole of Africa -- 50-odd countries -- is about 110GW, less than Germany's capacity.

Over 500 million of the world's 1.6 billion people who currently do not have access to electricity live in Africa.

Only about one-fifth of the sub-Saharan population has access to electricity. Can renewable energy alone surmount this huge gap?

The arguments made in favour of renewable energy cannot pass muster if we are sincere in our desire to enter the league of newly industrialised countries.

Kenya's energy mix must of necessity include hydro, geothermal, solar, wind, coal, thermal, and nuclear.

For instance, China and South Korea, two of Asia's booming economies are making substantial investment in nuclear energy for electricity generation.

Kenya is currently at the pre-feasibility stage of the nuclear electricity project.

A political decision has been taken regarding nuclear electricity. That is what gave rise to the formation of the Nuclear Electricity Project Committee.

The pre-feasibility study, which centres around 19 infrastructure issues, will provide the ultimate technical opinion on whether or not the country should go ahead with plans for nuclear electricity.

Therefore, calls for Kenya to "abandon" nuclear electricity in favour of renewable energy are premature.

The issue of radioactive waste management is relevant during all phases of a nuclear power plant.

So Kenya has time and best practice that will be obtained and learnt from those countries with end-of-life nuclear plants.

The deal between France and the UK to enhance civil nuclear energy cooperation and the green light for the construction of two nuclear power plants in Georgia, USA demonstrates that nuclear electricity generation is growing, buoyed by the fact that it is a clean, affordable, and reliable source of energy, not susceptible to vagaries of weather or international fossil fuel prices.