Uganda to host Africa nuclear conference

Uganda through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in collaboration with the African Nuclear Business Platform (AFNBP) is set to host the AFNBP 2023 to understand and discuss nuclear energy developments in the continent.

According to a statement by the Minister of Energy, Ruth Nankabirwa, the conference among other things presents an excellent opportunity to Uganda, particularly, and the African continent in general to find suitable approaches to the challenges in the nuclear industry.

"The conference comes at a time when Uganda is in preparations for the amendment of the Atomic Energy Act, 2008, to strengthen the legal regime for nuclear safety, security, safeguards for nuclear material, civil nuclear liability and maintaining the nuclear institutional framework," she said.

It also comes at a time when seven Sub-Saharan African countries, including Uganda, have committed to having nuclear energy as part of their energy mix between 2030 and 2037.

Ms Nankabirwa said the region, particularly Uganda, is experiencing an ever-increasing population, economic growth, and rising social needs that require sustainable development of energy resources.

She noted that Uganda's vision for 2040 and the subsequent national development plans to identify electricity as modern energy to shift the country from a peasantry to an industrialised and predominantly urban society will only be realised with the introduction of nuclear energy. This is because electricity generation from hydro, biomass, geothermal and peat potential, if fully developed, cannot meet Uganda's vision 2040 targets.

“Ugandan is mixing firm steps to integrate nuclear energy into the electricity generation mix to ensure energy security and provide sufficient electricity for industrialisation. In addition, the government has identified nuclear as part of Uganda's energy transition plan. It continues to invest in developing the requisite infrastructure, including human capital development in specialized areas to support the early development of nuclear power," the minister explained.

The International Nuclear Energy Conference is scheduled to take place from March 14 to 17, 2023 and over 300 stakeholders from the international nuclear community are expected to attend.