With the surge of interest in nuclear energy, driven by the twin imperatives of energy security & climate change mitigation obligations, the African continent is part and parcel of Nuclear Renaissance 2.0. From Egypt to Rwanda, African nations are at various stages of turning their ambition into the megawatts required to deliver the African Union’s Vision 2063. Guiding this complex journey is the Milestone Approach, a structured pathway set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that is often described as the primer for those building their first nuclear power plants.
The Milestones approach divides the task of successfully delivering a domestic nuclear power project into three progressive phases, each of which is contingent upon the completion of specific milestones spread out over 19 critical infrastructure & policy issues.
These cover everything from the technical, e.g, electrical grid readiness & site selection, to the institutional, which includes everything from legal frameworks to regulatory safety, funding, and even human resource development.
It advertises itself as a very methodical, step-by-step guide designed to be flexible enough to permit customization to fit the local contexts but rooted enough in international best practices to prevent catastrophic & costly missteps.
Application of Milestone Approach
In Egypt, the El Dabaa project, courtesy of Russia’s Rosatom, represents the most advanced and, depending on who you ask, conventional application of the Milestone Approach.
With the construction of the last of the four VVER 1200s at the site already underway, Egypt has demonstrated how to work through the IAEA phases in a top-down, state-driven manner, which allows the securing of the significant foreign financing that cash-strapped African countries need for projects of that scale.
Also Read: Why Africa’s Youth Should Lead Nuclear Revolution
The project’s progress, despite a few costly delays that have paralyzed similar projects in countries like the US, UK & France, testifies to the strength of its adherence to the proven, vetted path claimed by the Milestone’s Approach.
The potential weakness highlighted in response to such praise is the immense financial commitment & the long-term geopolitical reliance on a single foreign partner.
Rwanda’s partnership with Dual Fluid Energy Inc., a company promoting a novel, still-unproven reactor design, poses a fundamental question of whether the Milestone Approach can accommodate potentially transformative technologies that fall outside established paradigms.
Rwanda’s strategy, though agile & ambitious, risks operating in a regulatory & safety grey area that is anathema in the industry.
The selection of Kigali as the site for the first criticality by Dual Fluid was, after all, the straitjackets that ossified regulations within the OECD have imposed on innovative reactor designs.
IAEA’s framework, on the other hand, is built upon decades of mainly Pressurised Water Reactor experience. A radically different self, christened “Gen V” technology, may necessitate a radical adaptation of milestones, a high-stakes gamble given the industry’s current state in a country where its entire GDP is allegedly smaller than that of Westlands’ district in Nairobi.
How it works
South Africa, the continent’s sole nuclear power operator, presents a cautionary tale on the importance of the Milestone Approach’s later phases that concern funding, management, and stakeholder engagement.
The protracted troubles & cost overruns at the existing Koeberg plant, along with the plans of the fabled Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) gathering dust in Mzansi, highlight that technical competence alone is insufficient.
The failure to secure transparent financing & maintain public trust can derail a program at any stage, demonstrating that the milestones related to governance & economics are as crucial as those for nuclear safety.
Meanwhile, Ghana has emerged as the country that exemplifies “the prudent, phased adoption the IAEA framework encourages.”
Having completed an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) for Phase 1, Ghana reports that it is currently focused on developing its human resources, regulatory framework, & conducting site selection studies. Ghana’s journey hasn’t lacked the headline-grabbing appeal of a signed mega-deal.
At the United States-Africa Nuclear Summit (USANES) held in Nairobi last year, it signed a bilateral agreement with the US government to deploy the VOYGR-12 small modular reactor (SMR) plant being peddled by the embattled US company NuScale.
Ghana’s deliberate pace has attracted nods of approval as it builds the essential national capacity & institutional maturity required for long-term sustainability, mitigating the risk of overreach.
Also Read: Nuclear Power in Kenya: Balancing Progress, Promises and Public Interest
A balanced appraisal of the Milestone Approach reveals its primary strength as its comprehensiveness by providing a clear checklist that prevents governments from overlooking critical pillars needed for success.
Its potential weakness lies in its generality, especially when navigating the unique situations in different African nations. For Kenya and other newcomers, it can serve as a map for the marathon, whose successful navigation will depend on the runner’s ability to blend rigorous international standards with local realities, such as political will and a clear-eyed assessment of their own capacity to manage the immense, multi-generational responsibility of nuclear power.
This article was written by Francis Agar, a lecturer & registered Nuclear and Quantum Engineer. He sits on the BRICS Young Expert Panel (Nuclear Science and Technology); email: [email protected]
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