Why Jobs and Skills for Youth are Key Planks of Kenya’s Nuclear Power Programme

What is the best energy mix to support Kenya’s efforts at creating jobs? This is an important question in light of recent media reports that the Government might push its plans to build a nuclear power plant to 2036.

According to a recent survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), seven million Kenyans are unemployed, and nine in every 10 unemployed Kenyans are 35 years old or below. A reliable source of energy is critical to the development of Kenya’s manufacturing and job-creation envisaged by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The sector is one of the pillars of Uhuru’s Big Four agenda.

Without access to energy, it will not be possible to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals such as reducing poverty, improving public health and broadening the reach of education.

Although renewable energy sources are necessary to meet peak demand for electricity, the fact that they depend on weather conditions makes them insufficient to ensure base-load electricity supply. In this respect, therefore, nuclear energy is the most viable option. Unfortunately, the national conversation and narrative around nuclear power has been tainted with inaccuracies driven by emotions rather than fact.

To be fair to our youths, anti-nuclear lobbyists need to consider real world scenarios.To determine an energy mix, various factors and objectives other than just the cost apply. They include security of supply, reduced cost of energy, job creation and localisation, minimal environmental impact, water conservation, diversified supply sources, energy efficiency and energy access.

Strategic objectives

Looking at these objectives, it becomes clear that the cheapest model on paper may not be the most appropriate. It is also clear that only nuclear energy ticks all the boxes for strategic objectives.

Kenya’s Nuclear Power Programme (NPP) will foster a much-needed supplier development pipeline and encourage a wider development of artisanal skills such as coded welders, boilermakers, plant operators, carpenters, electricians and pipe fitters, which are all skills currently lacking in the country.

Included is the development of high-level skills such as scientists, engineers and project managers – thus helping address the youth unemployment crisis and help create broader small-to-medium enterprises and services, in both the private and public sectors.

The advantages of NPP are most tangible at the local level. For example, construction of Paks II NPP in Hungary represents an employment opportunity on a large scale. According to preliminary calculations, about seven to eight thousand people will be working on the site.

Paks NPP is the biggest employer in the region, and the most generous investor in the development of local infrastructure. It also contributes to the development of education as the NPP construction and operation require highly qualified workforce.

Construction phase

All this before mentioning the immense multiplier effect that will be created through localisation requirements, which will ensure sustainable careers as well as develop new local high-tech enterprises. Higher levels of localisation in the construction phase will also have positive knock-on effects, including specialised job creation in the following phases of the programme that spans 60 to 80 years.

One also needs to consider the incredibly high quality of the workmanship needed in the nuclear industry. Development of these skills requires at least two years of on-the-job training and mentoring by master craftsmen with decades of experience.

The Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board is undertaking siting studies to identify suitable potential sites for nuclear power development in Kenya as well as a Strategic Environmental Assessment of Kenya’s nuclear power programme. This is running in tandem with the development of a human resource development plan identifying the skills and competencies required, training needs and optimisation.

The Government needs to prioritise social development while defining the national energy mix and focus on strategic industries such as the nuclear industry to bolster a globally competitive position and further address the high unemployment rate among the youth.

Mr Chesori is a nuclear expert serving as the Secretary General for African Young Generation in Nuclear

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