The use of nuclear technology has been mired in controversy largely because of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War. In Kenya, it remains a very misunderstood concept and continues to elicit strong resistance in certain quarters.
It is these misconceptions that anti-nuclear activists harped on and denied residents of Kilifi County the pioneer bragging rights of the nuclear energy programme. What many do not know is that this technology has already been applied in various aspects of our lives in Kenya for decades.
But while the critics look backwards to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other unfortunate yet isolated cases, the world is looking towards tapping nuclear energy to provide extremely cheap electricity for industrial, commercial and domestic use.
Addressing a global audience of nuclear experts and presidential energy advisers at the first International Conference on Nuclear Energy held in Kenya in March, President William Ruto sent a clear message: Kenya's quest to diversify its energy sources to strengthen the country’s energy security is unstoppable, and nuclear energy will be the catalyst.
Kenya is sprinting toward an ambitious goal of expanding power generation from 3,300 MW to 10,000 MW by investing in nuclear energy projects. Why? A modern economy cannot survive on intermittent energy pulses. Solar and wind are vital, but they are variable, with the lowest generation peaks reported when the sun goes down and when wind levels fall. But nuclear energy provides baseload power, a steady, 24/7 heartbeat.
As Siaya Governor James Orengo aptly told the global audience of nuclear energy nations and experts when pitching Siaya County to host the first plant: “To reach first-world status, nuclear energy is a must."
The nexus of nuclear energy and development, financing models and fostering community acceptance dominated discussions. Critical too was avoiding pitfalls that marred such projects in other jurisdictions by tackling the "Not in My Backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome.
The NIMBY syndrome is mired in myths. Statistically, nuclear energy is one of the safest forms of energy. It results in 100 per cent fewer deaths than coal and slightly more than 97 per cent fewer than gas per unit of electricity generated. Modern reactors are designed with passive safety systems that shut down automatically without human intervention. This technology is already in your backyard. It is in our hospitals for cancer radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging, and it is in our labs developing drought-resistant crops.
For the host county, the benefits of nuclear energy supersede anticipated risks since such a project will attract heavy investments in high-capacity roads, modern hospitals, and world-class schools as prerequisites for nuclear installations.
Additionally, the technology will continue to support key sectors like agriculture, health, drive research, and development, including new value addition ventures that usually follow the availability of cheap electricity.
Nuclear energy remains a pillar of carbon-free baseload power, though trajectories vary significantly by region. Globally, 31 countries use it to provide 10 per cent of the world’s electricity, with France leading the pack - getting 70 per cent of its power from the atom.
In the US, nuclear energy is the number one clean source, preventing 500 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking 100 million cars off the road.
