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Kenya Seeks Nuclear Power Infrastructure

Posted by timothy on from the everything-is-in-limited-supply dept.

New submitter Snirt writes "Kenya is seeking to develop a viable nuclear energy program within the next 15 years to meet its growing energy demands. A government commission formed last year is conducting a feasibility study and the University of Nairobi is setting up programs to train people for the nuclear program. Critics say they're concerned about plant worker safety and the risk of environmental contamination. Some 86 percent of Kenyans do not have access to electricity, relying on firewood and kerosene to meet their energy needs. Electricity is expensive(1$=KES 90), and the supply is limited."

8 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Definition of irony by Mannfred · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Kenyans - with ample sunlight - going nuclear, and the Germans - with a less favourable climate - hoping solar energy will help them get rid of their nuclear power plants.

    1. Re:Definition of irony by dnwq · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Kenyans - who are poor and value becoming less-poor over any fears (correct or not) over long-term environmental effects, and the Germans - who are rich and value said environment comparatively highly.

    2. Re:Definition of irony by XrayJunkie · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not yet. But in Germany we started a bunch of research programs to cope with that. Smart (grid) solutions for large industrial compounds help to use "green energy". An intelligent combination of capacitors, solar power, wind power, and so on can make a difference. And 15 years from now, we should be able to store energy better - making solar power more attractive. This is the future. Aim for it.

    3. Re:Definition of irony by emilper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      An intelligent combination of capacitors, solar power, wind power, and so on can make a difference.

      so, in Germany you have super-capacitors ?

      How many billion € are you spending yearly to get less than 5% of consumption from "renewables" ? How many hundreds of € are you personally paying each month to maintain the "renewables" (look at your electricity bills and fuel bills, and see how much of that is taxes ) ? ... think a bit about it and you might realize that it's just what in US is very politely called "pork": corporate welfare for the 1%-ers.

  2. Re:Expensive? by RubberMallet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Care to try your napkin calculation again?

    120 KES base rate
    2 KES / KWh for the first 50 KWh = 2x50=100 KES
    8.10 KES / KWh for 50 to 1500 KWh = 1500x8.10=11745
    18.57 KES /KWh for 1500 to 2000 KWh = 500x18.57= 9285

    Total cost of this hypothetical 2000 KWh /year use is: 21250 KES

    21250 KES is roughly $245 US or 192 Euro

    Now put that in perspective... this is a country where the average salary for an average job is about 15000 to 20000 KES per month (if you dont' believe me, then look at the job postings for Nairobi on websites such as http://www.bestjobskenya.com/ You can get better paying jobs, but even top manager jobs top out around 80k/month). Imagine you were working an average job in Nairobi, and paying a little over one month of your before tax salary for electricity. Say you earn an average of about 35,000 Euro per year in Europe - then think about paying around 3000 Euro per year for your electricity. That's a significant portion of your take home pay. The same applies in Kenya. Electricity is VERY expensive relative to income... so much so that the vast majority cannot afford it, or cannot afford it except for only the most critical things (say charging a mobile phone (phones are super cheap in Kenya as is airtime) or running a single refrigerator).

  3. Re:At least somebody is making sense by loshwomp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agreed, except that your nuclear-powered car is already here today and it is called "electric rail".

  4. More energy may help improve economy by JSBiff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    More to the point, I believe the thinking is that having a large supply of reliable, and relatively affordable power may help strongly stimulate the Kenyan economy, thus making it so that a lot more people can afford the electricity.

    We know that energy is used to make stuff, transport it, and preserve it. It follows that access to affordable energy is required for any economy to grow. Too often our discussions about energy revolve around "creature comforts", but this is about more important things than air conditioning, televisions, and computers.

  5. Made in Kenya? by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The electricity isn't expensive, the Kenyans are poor.

    I'd imagine that the Kenyans are poor only because they don't make goods for export. The Balassa-Samuelson model explains how lack of an export sector depresses the value of a currency.