First Nuclear plant to be built in Uganda

In Summary

The President says the development of nuclear energy in Uganda will be stable and reliable. 

 

President Museveni speaking to.some of the stakeholders in nuclear energy.
President Museveni speaking to.some of the stakeholders in nuclear energy.
Image: Alice Lubwama

The government is going to construct the first-ever Nuclear Power Plant,  in the Buyende district.

While officiating at the Africa Nuclear Business Conference going on at Speke Resort Munyonyo, President Yoweri Museveni said efforts are in full gear to pave way for the plant that will generate 2000Mega watts of nuclear energy and will be connected to the National grid.

The president said that the drought that befell Uganda in 2005 was a big lesson to the government which forced him to direct the energy ministry to embrace Energy Mix by developing all sources of energy the country has. 

"In 2005, we experienced a severe drought which affected the hydrology of river Nile, this affected our hydropower generation. It forced me to direct the energy ministry to invest in Energy Mix by developing all the available sources to address the issue of energy" he said.

The President also rallied all the stakeholders to support the development of nuclear energy in Uganda saying it's stable,  reliable, and will solve the energy needs of the country. 

He said Uganda's energy needs now stands at 100,000 Megawatts which cannot be addressed with the available energy sources such as Geothermal, Hydro, and biomass. 

In order to combat the effects of climate change, Uganda has no option now but to diversify nuclear energy into the electricity mix because it has low greenhouses. 

The president said the conference is timely because it comes at a critical time when Uganda and Africa at large need power for industrialization and other peaceful use."In Africa here, people have been asleep.

It's really been a struggle to wake up people. South Korea is now a first-world country but in the 1950s, it was poorer than many African countries.

Now, they have 25 Nuclear Power Plants" the President said.

 Prime minister Robinah Nabbanja said that nuclear power is one of the options that will help Uganda attain the global sustainable development goals, especially goal number 7 which concerns access to affordable and clean energy. 

During the same function, the ministry of energy signed a memorandum of understanding with Soroti University which will host the Center for nuclear science and technology that will facilitate research in nuclear development.

The conference is being attended by experts in nuclear energy and nuclear vendors drawn from 23  countries in Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Europe.

The delegates are in Uganda to discuss nuclear developments in Africa and explore areas of collaboration and find suitable approaches to challenges in nuclear vending. Seven Sub- Saharan African countries including Uganda have already committed to having nuclear energy as part of their energy mix.

All Seven Countries have developed National positions on having Nuclear Energy and have engaged with the International Atomic Energy Agency to assist in their Annual power programs.