Ghana plans to start operating its first nuclear power plant in 2030. A 1,000 MW plant would require between 700 and 1,000 qualified professionals to operate it. Ghana’s existing regulatory workforce is relatively small: as of 2021, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority employed 65 technical specialists, despite a wide range of responsibilities, including regulation of future nuclear installations.
Specialists’ preparation is part of Phase 2 of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Milestones Approach. The framework covers 19 areas of nuclear infrastructure. However, engineers, regulators, radiation protection specialists and other professionals need years of education, specialised training and practical experience.
The workforce challenge extends beyond the future power plant itself. Nuclear medicine also depends on specialised personnel, and Ghana has only 14 medical physicists working in the field. International organisations are helping to expand this capacity. For example, in December 2024, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) completed a 4.5-year programme focused on strengthening nuclear medicine capacity at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, providing staff education, online training and on-site technical assistance.
Developing nuclear education within Ghana is equally important, which requires universities and qualified teaching staff to build the next generation of specialists. As part of the country’s preparations for nuclear power institutions such as Takoradi Technical University (TTU) are working with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) to introduce nuclear science programmes and adapt existing courses to the needs of the nuclear industry. A TTU Council member and Chairman of GAEC’s Nuclear Power Institute Dr Robert Adjaye noted that Ghana also needs to learn from countries with established nuclear industries.
However, the country is not starting from scratch. It already has institutions with decades of experience in nuclear science, including the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS) at the University of Ghana and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC). The commission also operates GHARR-1, Ghana’s research reactor. It supports research in areas including reactor physics, nuclear analytical techniques, nuclear waste management, radiation transport and shielding, geochemistry, mineral exploitation. The reactor is also used for students’ training in nuclear science and technology, reactor operations, reactor physics and nuclear management. GHARR-1 provides valuable experience for specialists who will contribute to the development of Ghana’s future nuclear sector.
This existing base provides a starting point for expanding specialist education. International partnerships can help, and Ghanaian students have already taken this route. For example, Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) offers programmes in nuclear energy and nuclear medicine in partnership with Rosatom and cooperates with Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Energy and Natural Resources. It is one of the universities where Ghanaian students can gain specialised training relevant to the country’s future nuclear sector.
Another example is the KINS-KAIST master’s programme in South Korea, organised by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The programme provides training in nuclear and radiation safety for professionals and graduates from IAEA member states, including Ghana.
The experience of Ghanaian graduates shows what such international training can mean in practice. Owusu Gordon was among the first Ghanaian students to complete TPU’s English-language master’s programme in Nuclear Power Engineering. After graduating in 2017, he returned to Ghana and began working at Nuclear Power Ghana as a specialist in environmental protection and radioactive waste management. “I decided to study nuclear power engineering to become an asset to my country in its quest to solve energy challenges. I needed a country with the best education and great experience in nuclear energy technology and generation. That’s why I chose TPU for training,” Gordon shares.
His career illustrates how international education can feed directly into the development of Ghana’s own nuclear programme: specialists trained abroad can return home and apply their knowledge in the institutions responsible for building the country’s nuclear infrastructure. Other Ghanaian TPU graduates have followed similar paths, working at Nuclear Power Ghana and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
The long-term objective is the safe commissioning of Ghana’s first nuclear power plant. The foundations for training specialists already exist.
The task now is to expand them into an education system capable of supplying specialists across the full range of roles the nuclear sector requires. International education and training programmes can help develop expertise for the operation of a future nuclear power plant, as long as in nuclear regulation, radiation protection, nuclear medicine, research and university education.
