Upcoming ANS event: “Unlocking Africa’s Potential with Nuclear Energy”

May 16, 2024, 12:01PMANS News

The American Nuclear Society is hosting an online panel discussion exploring the future of nuclear energy in Africa. The event, “Unlocking Africa’s Potential with Nuclear Energy,” will be held on Friday, May 17, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. (EDT).

Register now. The event is complimentary and open to all. Registration will also give you access to a video recording of the panel discussion.

Unlocking Africa’s potential through nuclear energy

March 26, 2024, 7:02AMNuclear NewsAleshia Duncan

Aleshia Duncan

Data from the African Development Bank shows that Africans have an electricity access rate of 40 percent—the lowest in the world. This statistic is one I have been hoping to bring more awareness to and positively impact. Since stepping into my role at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, I have prioritized focusing on Africa, leveraging the opportunity to deepen existing relationships and forge new ones.

Developments in advanced reactor technology are opening the door to all nations and promise to be critical to attaining climate and energy security goals. As we engage various countries on the African continent regarding their desire to pursue nuclear as an important part of their energy mix, Ghana has emerged as a nation that offers a unique partner profile that is aligned with our mission to support emerging markets and build regional leaders while also being motivated by its own sense of urgency in deploying new nuclear.

Atoms for Africa

December 18, 2023, 10:56AMNuclear NewsJames Conca
Africa is home to 1.5 billion people in 54 countries living on 12 million square miles. The economies of many of these countries are hobbled by a general dearth of energy that nuclear could solve without adding to the harm of global warming.

The World Nuclear Association and the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) last year signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage the use of nuclear energy in support of economic growth and sustainable energy development in Africa.

The spirit of international cooperation

December 11, 2023, 9:30AMNuclear NewsKen Petersen

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

This September, I was fortunate to be in Vienna as a delegate to the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference. I will admit, it was strange at first to be in another country while listening to the U.S. Departments of State, Energy, and Commerce all discuss the positive aspects of nuclear and its international influence, but it was a great experience, especially hearing firsthand the enthusiasm of the secretary of energy.

Delegations from Ghana and the Philippines provided an excellent perspective from countries new to nuclear and embracing it. The Philippines’ representative spoke of the many islands that currently depend on diesel generators to provide power, and the need to replace them. A microreactor would be able to replace the generators and provide clean energy for decades. He also talked about how his country had to ship raw metal ore to China for smelting, and how a larger nuclear plant provides the power to smelt their own ore, improving their market. The Ghanian delegation spoke of their interest in nuclear power and small modular reactor technology and how they believe SMRs will provide their industries with safe, reliable power.

U.S., Japan team up for SMR deployment; first stop: Ghana

November 1, 2022, 12:00PMNuclear News
From left: U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security Bonnie Jenkins; Japan’s state minister of economy, trade, and industry Fusae Ōta; Ghana’s deputy minister of Energy William Owuraku Aidoo; and U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy Kathryn Huff. (Photo: DOE Office of Nuclear Energy)

The United States and Japan have announced Winning an Edge Through Cooperation in Advanced Nuclear (WECAN)—a new agreement aimed at supporting the deployment of small modular reactors and other advanced reactor technologies in partner countries.

Ghana latest nation to ink civil nuclear MOU with U.S.

July 21, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News

The United States and the Republic of Ghana have signed a nuclear cooperation memorandum of understanding. The NCMOU is a diplomatic instrument that, according to the U.S. State Department, strengthens and expands “strategic ties between the United States and a partner country by providing a framework for cooperation on civil nuclear issues and for engagement between experts from government, industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions.”