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Ghana Airlifts Last Uranium To China

By MyJoyOnline
General News Ghana Airlifts Last Uranium To China
SEP 21, 2017 LISTEN

As part of its commitment to being a nuclear weapon free country, Ghana, has flown its last remaining stock of highly enriched Uranium to China.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made this known when he addressed the 72nd United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, US Thursday.

Addressing other world leaders at the Assembly, the President said the decision to fly the highly enriched Uranium signals an end to the removal of all materials capable of being used for nuclear weapons from the country.

The world has adopted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

The treaty, opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force in 1970, is aimed at promoting cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving complete nuclear disarmament.

Countries like North Korea and Iran, have over the years, suffered stiff sanctions due to nuclear proliferation.

President Akufo-Addo told the UN, “Africa and indeed, Ghana, remains committed to remaining a nuclear weapons free continent. Three weeks ago, highly enriched Uranium was flown out of Ghana back to China signaling the end of the removal of all such material from the country.”

With the removal of the remaining highly enriched Uranium from the country, the President disclosed that Ghana’s nuclear reactor is now focused on power generation.

“Our nuclear reactor has subsequently been converted to use low enriched fuel for power generation. A world free of nuclear weapons must be in all our collective interest,” he said.

There are currently no nuclear power plants in Ghana, although there is one nuclear research reactor in the country.

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission has been investigating the use of nuclear power. The commission is working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to implement nuclear power in Ghana as part of a wider project, Sustainable Energy Development for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / email: [email protected])

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