Inside Uganda’s journey to produce nuclear power

Buyende is one of the pilot districts for Uganda’s nuclear programme expected to generate 8,400 MW as the country positions itself to start manufacturing nuclear energy by 2031. Other districts include; Nakasongola (7,200 MW), Kiruhura (4,800 MW), and Lamwo (4,000 MW).

Mr Dennis Tusiime, a Nuclear Engineer at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), says they mapped the entire country and eight potential sites were identified in the aforementioned districts, including Kasanda.

“When we did rankings based on statistics on the ground, Buyende came out top because it was geographically favourable, has very good base rock, and is not within the seismically active (rift valley) areas,” Mr Tusiime said in an interview.

He added: “We went further to do peer review because we don’t work alone as the Ministry of Energy, but with MDAs which have experts like geologists, environmentalists, sociologists, hydrologists, who were all co-opted to work as a unified programme.”

The Permanent Secretary in the MEMD, Eng Irene Bateebe, says unveiling the Energy Policy for Uganda (2023) charts a pathway for achieving universal access to electricity and also power Uganda’s economic transformation aspirations in a sustainable and secure manner.

In the Energy Policy for Uganda (2023), among other targets, the government seeks to produce 52,481 MW of electricity by 2040 to spur industrialisation, job creation, and value addition, among others, with nuclear energy contributing 24,000 MW.

“Nuclear Energy will be needed for lighting our homes, powering our industries, and supporting other sectors such as transport through e-mobility and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR),” Eng Bateebe says.

She adds: “Buyende District, through comprehensive evaluations, stood out as the best choice to be the beacon of our nuclear ambitions as a country. This speaks volumes about the district’s potential and strategic importance for the country.”

According to Eng Bateebe, the 8,400 MW Buyende Nuclear Project will require about 30.1 Square Kilometres of land, which will result in the involuntary resettlement of residents in Kasaato and surrounding villages in Kidera Sub-county.

Eng Bateebe, however, says it is important that a RAP study is conducted and implemented to enhance the development impact of the project and improve the living standards of affected people.

“It is against this background that CCL was procured to prepare a RAP for this project, which will be setting the stage for further technical evaluations for the realisation of this nuclear power plant project,” Eng Bateebe says.

CCL is a consultancy firm with a substantial footprint in sustainable nuclear and environmental solutions.

In Uganda, it is also undertaking critical site evaluations for the Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology (CNST) at Soroti University, a critical infrastructure piece supporting Uganda’s nuclear aspirations.

Ms Vanessa Mulongo, the Project Manager for CCL for this RAP study, says their consultancy officially began on November 19, 2024, with activities planned through May 2025.

“Over the next six months, CCL will be evaluating socio-economic impacts, engaging with the affected communities to ensure fair compensation, livelihood restoration, effective resettlement, collaborate closely with the MEMD and local stakeholders, promote dialogue and address community concerns, among others.

“Other efforts include hydrological, meteorological, and flood analyses, as well as population and land-use assessments to identify human-induced events impacting nuclear facilities,” Ms Mulongo further explains.

Over 25,000 Project Affected persons (PAPs) are expressing fear of how they will cope with new localities following the displacement after it emerged that most of them are fishermen and livestock farmers born and raised near the River Nile and Lake Kyoga shoreline.

Ms Dorothy Orishaba, a Lands officer in the MEMD, however, says after assessment and evaluating the PAPs, they will engage every individual with property in the area, including land, house or however little property they own.

“The PAPs’ land and crops will be valued based on the current value from the government valuer and the district respectively; and we shall use the current or updated rates which reflect the value of these crops.

“At every stage, forms will be signed, reports prepared and submitted to the chief government valuer for approval, after which we shall come back to show the PAPs how much their property has been valued at,” Ms Orishaba explained.

Ms Orishaba added that in addition to compensation, there will be a “disturbance allowance” paid due to inconvenience at a rate of between 15 percent and 30 percent of the approved value to value relocation. In addition, there will be a grievance redress committee to handle PAPs’ grievances.

The Minister of State for Energy, Mr Okasaai Sidronius Opolot, says nuclear energy is not just an option but a “necessity” for our nation’s progress.

“Imagine a Uganda where industries operate without hitches due to power cuts, our households have stable electricity and our children read under lights powered by the safest nuclear technology in the world. This is the future we are envisioning,” Mr Opolot says.

According to him, the energy resource potential of the country includes an estimated 4,500 MW of hydropower, 1,650MW of biomass cogeneration 1,500 MW of geothermal, 800 MW of peat, 460 million tons of biomass standing stock with a sustainable annual yield of 50 million tons, an average of 5.1 kWh/m2 of solar energy.

However, even with this abundant potential, the current electricity installed capacity in Uganda stands at 2,048.1MW in 2024 (ERA, 2024) of which 84 percent is from hydro, 4 percent from Solar, 7 percent from Bagasse Cogeneration and 5 percent from HFO Thermal generation.

“With our current trajectory, even if we exploit every drop of water, every sunray, and every gust of wind, we will still fall short of our Vision 2040 targets.

“Therefore, to meet our development targets, nuclear energy, among other sources, must be integrated in the electricity generation mix,” he adds.

BACKGROUND

In April 2023, Cabinet adopted the Energy Policy for Uganda (2023), which envisages development of 52,481 MW generation capacity in the long term to meet the future demand of which 24,000 MW will come from nuclear power.

Earlier, in May 2022, President Museveni stressed that Uganda will use its uranium deposits to develop energy to supplement the current inadequate capacity of hydro and geothermal power.

Currently, atomic energy is widely used in industrial, medical and research in education institutions; and in Uganda, the Atomic Energy Council, established in 2008, oversees the activities resulting from the discovery of nuclear energy.