Ghana is being assured of competent human resource to manage her nuclear power needs when it becomes part of the country’s energy mix.

The assurance comes as Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology partners Tomsk Polytechnic University of Russia in the field.

The two institutions are jointly pursuing research, education and training in Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Government of Ghana has announced plans to introduce nuclear power into the country’s energy mix.

Russia, China, France and the United States are said to have expressed interest in Ghana’s Nuclear Energy Programme.

Tomsk Polytechnic University has been running the Nuclear Energy programme for 70 years.

An international Nuclear Education programme introduced 5 years ago has seen many Ghanaians benefit.

Director of Master’s Degree Programme in Nuclear Science and Technology, Dr. Vera Verhoturova noted the enthusiasm and knowledge exhibited by Ghanaian students in the programme gave birth to the collaboration.

“In 2015, we got 5 students from Ghana. It was a bit surprising to us, the students had strong fundamental bases and strong will to be trained in the nuclear field. From that time, we thought it interesting to have a strong collaboration with Ghana. To support Ghanaian students to get free education,” she emphasized.

Senior Research Scientist at Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Vincent Agbodemegbe, underscores reliability and affordability nuclear power.

He says development of nuclear energy will gradually bring Ghana closer to realizing her vision of becoming economic giant in Africa.

“Nuclear technology has been proven to not only supply power at stable and affordable pricing but also ensure reliability and resilience of power infrastructure. Nuclear power generation has clearly shown the huge difference in development between middle-income countries and high-income countries. This has heightened the need to develop nuclear infrastructure for power generation in Ghana,” he explained.

Dr. Agbodemegbe believes a multidisciplinary approach will be crucial in sustaining the vision.

Provost of KNUST College of Science, Prof. Leonard Amekudzi, believes the partnership will set KNUST apart as one of Africa’s best nuclear education training institutions.

“This will establish the university as one of the best universities giving nuclear education to students and also preparing the next generation of nuclear scientists that will join the workforce,” he said.