The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission’s Nuclear Power Institute formally launched a nuclear energy training center called the Clean Energy Training Center in Accra, Ghana, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Energy. It stated that the center is open to all African countries to support the development of civil nuclear energy programs across the continent. The center will offer technical expertise and training with support from the U.S. nuclear industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions, on topics such as workforce capacity-building, reactor design and operation, and the management of spent nuclear fuel.
“This center will be a critical resource for Ghana and other African countries working to deploy nuclear technology to address energy challenges while contributing to sustainable development,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cooperation Aleshia Duncan. “The center also symbolizes the United States’ continued commitment to knowledge sharing, ensuring like-minded countries have access to technical, regulatory, and workforce development resources to successfully launch, and more importantly sustain, nuclear programs.”
The DOE had held a U.S.-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit in Ghana last October. It now will hold a second such summit in Nairobi, Kenya, over Aug. 27-30, in cooperation with the Kenyan Nuclear Power and Energy Agency and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of Kenya.
While it is not clear whether the U.S. can actually help build any nuclear plants in Africa, such training is a welcome sign, and one in a marked departure from most of Washington’s dealing with the continent.