Russian nuclear corporation ROSATOM reported Tuesday that representatives of relevant agencies of the Republic of Ghana held the first meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) as part of implementation of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The meeting was a follow up to the agreement signed on June 2, 2015.
ROSATOM sent its own delegation to the meeting, headed by Victor Polikarpov, regional vice-president of Sub-Saharan Africa. The lead delegate from Ghana was Benjamin Botwe Nyarko, director of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC). Various other departments of ROSATOM, the Ministry of Energy and GAEC were present.
The meeting's agenda focused on “all key issues related to the preparation for the implementation of Ghanaian's own nuclear power program,” ROSATOM reported. That included discussions on infrastructure, finance, regulations, and various technical issues related to construction of nuclear power plants facilities.
Although currently without any domestic nuclear power plants, Ghana “has competences in nuclear technology,” and understands that nuclear power is “necessary,” said Polikarpov.
Ghana is developing the National Nuclear Power Program and has made efforts to review and analyze infrastructure capabilities and needs. It is also preparing to accept he first INIR mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The next meeting of the countries' representatives is to be held during the IAEA General Conference from September 26 through September 30, while the next meeting of the JCC will take place in 2017, ROSATOM said.