Cost Effective Ways of Implementing Nuclear Power Programme in African Countries

1.1 Energy Poverty Energy Poverty is a term for a lack of access to electricity, heat or other forms of power. This more than often refers to the situation of peoples in the developing world. According to the records of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a detailed country-by-country database estimated that in 2009 the number of people without access to electricity was 1.4 billion or 20% of the world's population. Some 85% of those people live in rural areas. According to, current forecasts suggest the world will see an increase in global energy consumption of over 50% by 2030 with 70% of this growth in demand expected to come from developing countries. There is therefore the need to seek for a way of meeting this need within the time frame and doing so at an affordable price or rather with the most efficient allocation of resources. Nuclear energy can play a role in providing increased access to affordable energy in many parts of the world. There are growing concerns all over the world about energy security. This is partially due to the instability in the price of fossil fuel and to the political instability of most of the oil rich regions of the world. There arises therefore a need for means of meeting the increasingly growing energy demands of the nations while cutting down on the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 1.2 The African Situation Presently, the only country on the African continent that has operational nuclear power plants is South Africa. South Africa has two nuclear power plants. Koeberg- 1 and Koeberg-2. Koeberg-1 started operation in 1984 and Koeberg-2 in 1985. Both are 900 MW(e) PWRs. The remaining nations across Africa are dependent largely on either hydro power plants, thermal or gas or a combination of both. However, there has been an increase in interest in nuclear electricity in a number of African countries. The list includes countries like Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia, e.tc. These are countries whose economies are still growing fast and hence are characterized by a foreseeable increase in electricity demand to drive the factors of production. 1.3 Objective of this Paper The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficient means of building nuclear power plants and associated infra structure in African countries. The concept adopted in this paper to achieve efficient allocation of resources is sharing of infrastructural items. The paper lists examples of sharing arrangement on the African continent for other purposes other than nuclear power programme. This is an attempt to justify the workability of the concept for nuclear power programme. Mention has also been made of similar sharing arrangement in other countries for the purpose of nuclear power programme. The factors that will enhance the success of sharing concept in African countries have also been highlighted