KAMPALA, UGANDA: Uganda is set to host the 2023 International Nuclear Energy Conference (INEC) in a bid to understand and discuss nuclear energy developments in the continent, the minister for Energy and Mineral Development Hon Ruth Nankabirwa has affirmed.
The conference organized in collaboration with the African Nuclear Business Platform (AFNBP) is scheduled to take place from March 14 to 17, 2023 and over 300 stakeholders from the international nuclear community are expected to attend.
Ms Nankabirwa in a Thursday statement said 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,” said Ms Nankabirwa while addressing journalists at Thursday’s press briefing.
The minister added that the region, particularly Uganda, is experiencing an ever-increasing population, economic growth, and rising social needs that require sustainable development of energy resources.
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.
“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,” Ms Nankabirwa explained.
The 2023 AFNBP conference 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.
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