The US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security & Nonproliferation, Ann Ganzer, has announced new civil nuclear cooperation initiative to support Ghana’s nuclear power development, including establishing Ghana as a small modular reactor (SMR) regional hub. The announcements were made at the Africa Nuclear Business Platform meeting in Accra.
The statement from the US Embassy in Ghana said: US SMRs incorporate advanced safety features, including designs to withstand extreme weather and seismic events, and can be tailored to match the specific needs of a country’s power grid, with the ability to scale up as needed. Importantly, SMRs can play a critical role in decarbonising non-electric sectors, such as industry and transportation.”
Accompanied by US Charge d’Affaires Rolf Olson, Ganzer attended the signing of key arrangements facilitated by the US Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) programme, to advance deployment of a US SMR in Ghana.
These included a Memorandum of Understanding for a Regional Welding Certification Program between the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the International Science & Technology Center (ISTC), which will provide essential training to enable Ghanaian technicians to qualify for construction jobs in the nuclear energy sector. This certification programme, funded by the FIRST programme, aims to establish Ghana as part of a SMR supply chain in the region.
Also signed was a Memorandum of Understanding and Contractual Arrangements for the Provision of the NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Center and related services at GAEC. The documents, signed by GAEC and ISTC and by GAEC, ISTC and NuScale, respectively, “advance Ghana’s technical readiness for SMR technology”. The Embassy statement says “the deployment of a NuScale E2 Center in Ghana — a first for the African continent — will be a key tool for preparing the workforce for SMR deployment in Ghana and beyond”.
The E2 Center, a simulator of NuScale Power’s SMR control room, funded by the FIRST programme, will provide a hands-on training facility to develop and train the next generation nuclear operators and engineers. It will also establish Ghana as a regional educational and training hub for the next stage of civil nuclear deployments in Africa, consistent with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Milestones Approach and nonproliferation standards.
In conjunction with these developments, the Government of Ghana represented by Nuclear Power Ghana is working on a cooperation agreement with the project developer Regnum Technology Group LLC to develop an industrial enclave utilising a NuScale SMR nuclear power plant as its main source of energy. “The US government strongly supports the deployment of NuScale’s technology through Regnum Technology Group as a project developer in Ghana and looks forward to seeing the conclusion of this agreement,” the statement notes.
The United States is also currently in negotiations with Ghana for a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement (or 123 agreement) and looks forward to concluding negotiations to enable closer cooperation in this important field.
The US Embassy in Ghana in March 2022 announced that the USA and Ghana have jointly launched a partnership under the FIRST programme. “The FIRST programme, led by the US Department of State, will support Ghana’s adoption of small modular reactor (SMR) technology, including support for stakeholder engagement, advanced technical collaboration, and project evaluation and planning,” the Embassy noted at that time. The State Department launch the FIRST programme in April 2021 “building on more than 60 years of US innovation and expertise in nuclear energy” with initial funding of $5.3m.
