Nairobi, Kenya (Credit: Amani Nation/Unsplash)
The NEA and Kenya’s Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) held a webinar on 7 July 2025 entitled Powering Kenya’s Future: Understanding Nuclear Energy that gathered almost 200 participants to address the most common concerns and misconceptions about nuclear energy.
Kenya’s nuclear energy programme was launched in 2010 with the aim of diversifying its energy sources and supporting the objectives set out in the Kenya Vision 2030. Recognising the importance of stakeholder involvement in the development of the country’s nuclear energy programme, the NEA and NuPEA webinar provided an opportunity to present the progress made so far as well as NEA activities such as the Common Journey Initiative. The Common Journey Initiative was introduced in 2024 with the OECD Development Centre to support efforts to include nuclear energy in Africa’s energy mix in order to advance economic development. NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV, said about this initiative:
We, at the NEA, want to help build a co-operative framework so the countries in Africa can work together and share experience and resources, and benefit from the deep experience in OECD countries so that each country can move forward in this journey. We’re going to be looking at how to support countries as they build the capacities in ministries and legislatures to make the right decisions in deploying nuclear capacity, developing their educational programmes, and engaging with the public. We also help them to encourage women to participate in nuclear science and technology.
During his opening remarks, Justus Wabuyabo, CEO of NuPEA, highlighted that:
…through the NEA’s Common Journey initiative, we will be able to tap into the experience of [the] NEA member countries on how they have been able to address the issue of stakeholder engagement to help Kenya meet its energy needs by incorporating nuclear power as part of our sources of energy. It will help our country to develop economically and also ensure that our development is sustainable and does not harm the environment.
Eng. Erick Ohaga, Director of the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Development at NuPEA, outlined how adding low-carbon nuclear energy to the country’s energy mix would help to foster economic growth, social equity and environmental sustainability. “For us to be able to achieve this ambition of improving the quality of life of the Kenyan people, nuclear energy is an enabler to those three pillars,” he said.
NEA Director-General Magwood also addressed some common misconceptions and concerns about nuclear energy.
The webinar brought together participants from 23 countries including students, researchers, representatives of international organisations, nuclear agencies, private sector companies in the energy field and nuclear specialists.
Watch the webinar recording: