An expert mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has commended Ghana for being committed to continuously improving nuclear and radiation safety, as the country moves forward with its nuclear power programme. Ghana already has a Chinese-designed 30 kWt research reactor (designated GHARR-1, for Ghana Research Reactor) and uses radiation technologies in agriculture, healthcare, industry and research.

The IAEA team was an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission, composed of three IAEA staff members and 14 regulatory experts from 13 countries. The mission was headed by Thiagan Pather of South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator. This was the first IRRS mission ever to visit Ghana, and it functioned as a peer review of the Ghanaian legal and regulatory frameworks covering nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety, plus the interface between nuclear security and safety.

“IRRS missions are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the national nuclear and radiation safety regulatory infrastructure, based on IAEA Safety Standards and international good practices, while recognising the responsibility of each country to ensure nuclear and radiation safety,” explained the IAEA.  

The IRRS mission highlighted that Ghana had established its Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) as an independent body, in line with international best practices. It also highlighted that Ghana was delivering on its international nuclear and radiation safety obligations, and had started strengthening its nuclear and radiation safety regulatory frameworks. It was also providing support to, and advocacy for, the NRA by providing it with the necessary human and financial resources, in line with the scale of the country’s current nuclear and radiation programmes.

“The efforts and constructive engagement of NRA staff during the peer review process enabled the IRRS team to gain a comprehensive understanding of Ghana’s regulatory framework,” reported Pather. “As a country with ambitions for a nuclear power programme, it is important that the government of Ghana and the [NRA] work together to deliver the improvements identified during the mission.”

The IRRS team made recommendations and suggestions for further improvements. One of these was that the government should create and carry out national safety and radioactive waste management policies and strategies. Other recommendations included that the government should take care that safety elements were set up by means of legislation that was consistent with IAEA safety standards; that the NRA should accelerate management system development and approval; that the NRA should set up and apply an enforcement policy and process, including corrective action criteria, so as to be able to respond to any non-compliance with the regulatory requirements; and that the NRA should establish an emergency plan and procedures for its assigned roles concerning nuclear or radiological emergency preparedness and response.