Kenya is on course and is progressing well towards realizing its first nuclear power plant scheduled for commissioning by 2027.
The Ministry of Energy however citing number of challenges towards realization of the project. Among the major challenges that nuclear energy development in the country has been facing is the lack of skilled personnel in nuclear energy.
The Ministry has been training some of its personnel in Korea through the Kenya Nuclear Energy Board (KNEB).
To cut the cost of training outside the country, the Ministry’s board beginning this year (2019) has partnered with the University of Nairobi (UoN) to locally train professionals in this field.
According to KNEB Communications officer Emmanuel Wandera, Kenya has a shortage of skilled human resource to work at nuclear power plants. He highlighted that the Ministry has sponsored 15 students to pursue Masters degree in nuclear energy and related studies at UoN.
Though the deadline for the first plant is 2027, this is subject to the passing of the draft Nuclear Regulatory Bill which was first tabled in Kenya National Assembly in November 2018.
Kenya joins other African countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Algeria and Nigeria in the pursuit for nuclear energy. Last year (2018), Sudan entered into a contract with Russia to build a nuclear plant for peaceful purposes starting mid of this year (2019).
