Kenya to take cautious steps in exploiting nuclear energy

Kenya is keenly watching the nuclear crisis in Japan for useful lessons, the committee spearheading the country’s nuclear programme said on Thursday, as nations across the world began rethinking their nuclear plans.

“We hope to stay on course,” said Nuclear Electricity Development Project Committee executive chairman, Ochilo Ayacko, “but the ongoing international debate and discourse (on the Japan crisis) will inform our decisions on issues like selection of location as well as safety and security requirements.”

Mr Ayacko — accompanied by committee member Prof Joseph Malo and secretary David Otwoma — was reacting to public concerns over the government’s nuclear plans after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 140 miles north of Tokyo, sparking fears of radioactive contamination.

Engineers, backed by Japan’s military helicopters, are trying to cool overheating fuel at the six side-by-side reactors since the tsunami destroyed their cooling systems on March 11 to avoid chances of radioactive substances being released.

Other countries like the US, France, Britain and Australia are preparing to evacuate or have advised their citizens to move to the south of the Japanese capital.

“We are not going to be authorised to produce nuclear energy tomorrow,” Mr Ayacko said. “I assure Kenyans that we will be subjected to a rigorous peer review. We will not compromise on the standards and will ensure we have the best systems for safeguards, security, liability and production.”

According to the committee, the country expects to have its first 1,000MW nuclear plant between 2020-2022 subject to approvals by, among others, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear technology watchdog.

“It is a short-term precautionary measure to facilitate a safety audit of the programme. Even Japan is not planning to shut down the reactors completely,” he said.

Reports indicate that China had decided to suspend approvals of new nuclear power stations to carry out an audit of existing reactors while Germany has temporarily shut down seven nuclear power plants.

Noting that demand for power could hit the 15,000MW by 2030, Mr Ayacko said the country has to go nuclear because, unlike countries like Germany, it does not have many options if it hopes to meet its development objectives under Vision 2030.

“Our best bets are geothermal, whose maximum potential is 5,000MW, and coal, which is not an option in the present global warming sensitive era,” said Mr Ayacko, a former MP for Rongo.