Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Expert: Solar better than nuclear option

SYLIVESTER DOMASA
THE East African Community (EAC) partner states have been urged to explore alternative energy generating sources, including solar, rather than opting for nuclear power plants, which may pose a serious threat to the environment and the economy.

Tanzania enacted her Atomic Energy Act No 7 of 2003, permitting the use of its uranium reserves to produce electricity. Neighbouring Kenya announced it was also aiming to build a 1,000MW power plant between 2017 and 2022, with Uganda targeting its first nuclear power plant by 2034.
Alarmed by the increasing demand for domestic and industrial use, the member states have been compelled to seek other possible sources to address the energy crisis, nuclear being the latest.
Addressing the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists on “Climate Change Primer: Responding To Global Impacts Of Human Activity” at the university of California, Berkeley, recently, Daniel Kammen, professor of Energy at the institution, emphatically stated: “Nuclear should be the last option,” adding:“If nuclear power was cost effective, quick to build and safe, it could be a wonderful ally in fighting climate change; unfortunately today nuclear power is much more expensive, long to build and risks are high.”
The nuclear energy expert, who has conducted a number of studies on energy in Tanzania and Kenya, advises the East African member states to learn from the United States that has started shutting down its nuclear energy plants.
California, for instance, leads the United States in responding to global climate change as it tries to create a clean-energy economy, ameliorate the effects of global change and promote green businesses for the future.
It has replaced over 50 per cent of its nuclear power with solar energy. Prof Kammen acknowledged that some new technologies had been researched but they were not in a position to tackle climate change challenges.
He says studies at the University of Nairobi’s Chiromo- Campus on the viability of solar, wind and geothermal, shows clean energy countries don’t need nuclear energy. Kenya is shifting from hydropower projects because of the worries of droughts.
“Hydropower projects will use a smaller amount of our energy in future. It is misguided that it is secure but as we look at the variability of rainfall, the need to preserve water for land and agriculture means it will no longer be an option for large hydro projects.”
The experts advised the EAC member countries to alternatively invest into solar, biomass, wind and geothermal, saying they were plenty to meet the region’s power demand for decades.
In October 2016, Russia’s nuclear energy agency, Rosatom, announced it was planning to start developing nuclear energy in Tanzania following discovery of uranium in Mkuju River along the Selous Game Reserve. Like in Kenya and Uganda, Tanzania’s dream is to have its nuclear power plant by 2025 which would cost at least Us$4billion.

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