As Ghana discusses nuclear energy, we must look to the example and success of the energy form elsewhere to inform our decisions. Despite public ignorance and government reluctance to embrace nuclear energy in past decades, it is now being heralded as the solution to energy problems the world over - economically, environmentally it seems to make sense, and The Statesman supports calls for its rapid, although cautious, implementation.

This week at the World Trade Organisation talks at Doha, for example, the verdict was that irrespective of the US criticism, the Arab region must gear-up to tap the immense potential of nuclear energy. This was the view of Abdul Rahman Al Awadi, Executive Secretary of the Regional Organisation for the Protection of the Marine Environment, when he opened there Tuesday.

Dr Al Awadi said, "Atomic energy is the energy of future. No country can keep away from it. And no one has the right to deny the natural rights of these countries to tap nuclear energy."

Our readers may ask, but why should countries in the Gulf region be concerned about alternative energy? The answer is that the Arab nations' traditional energy resources like oil and gas may get exhausted in another 20-30 years. So the argument is that they cannot afford missing this precious resource and should be on the frontline in developing the new technology. Effective tapping of nuclear energy is inevitable for the bright future of the generation next, Dr Al Awadi said.

For oil and gas power countries such as Ghana, who rely on unreliable rains, and unstable world fuel prices, for their energy, the sense of nuclear power supplies is even more clear.

Also in the Middle East this week, meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, promised on Sunday that his agency was ready to help Jordan to benefit from nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA is dispatching a team to Jordan next week to discuss the details of the nuclear project. Jordan"s King Abdullah II has spoken on the need to create a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, saying Jordan will set an example to other countries in peaceful use of nuclear energy. Jordan plans to set up a nuclear plant by 2015 to generate electricity and desalinate water.

The argument, therefore, for civil nuclear energy cannot be overemphasised. Like Jordan, Ghana is an IAEA member and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And, Ghana can be trusted to become an ambassador for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in line with international rules.

Indeed, the need to develop alternative energy sources in Ghana is greater than ever, in the light of our constant no-lights situation, and in The Statesman’s view the two areas that Ghana should be looking to develop for the long-term, starting now, are nuclear energy and biofuels. The focus now is on nuclear energy.

Last September, The Statesman wrote an editorial urging the nation to go the nuclear route. We are happy to report that today that dream of the First Republic has been once again revived. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Kwamena Bartels, for example, announced this week that Cabinet awaits the report of the Prof Adzei Bekoe Committee to take a decision on nuclear as an energy supply option. Speaking to The Statesman yesterday, the former Deputy Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission argued that nuclear energy has long since been viable in Ghana; that decisive action needs to be taken now, to ensure that this medium-term solution to Ghana’s energy crisis is not dragged out into a long-term failure.

We at The Statesman share his sense of urgency, knowing our national penchant to come up with great ideas while watching others implement them, and call on Government to act swiftly and effectively in this direction.

The estimated cost of a nuclear plant to generate electricity for Jordan has been put between $600-800 million for a 400-megawatt plant and between $800m to $1bn for a 600-megawatt plant. If these figures are anything to go buy for a similar project in Ghana then the question may be asked: why spend $600 million to build a dam to provide a similar volume of power and all the environmental problems that come with it?

The experts say a lot of preparatory work has been done in Ghana for the nuclear push. They have also mentioned that Ghana could be getting power from nuclear reactors as early as 2015 if we start work now. That is equivalent to two terms under President Kufuor.

In the last six years, Ghana’s economy has grown from nearly $4bn to around $13bn. Yet, we have rather seen our energy supply plummet! Kufuor should begin to see a civil nuclear plant as his probable Akosombo Dam legacy. If Nkrumah four decades ago could build and leave us with a legacy of a 1,000 or so megawatt dam, then providing one with half the capacity of what exists for a population that has grown from about 7m to 22m cannot be such a useful achievement for this country’s drive and hunger to prosper. Let’s think and act big!

We certainly need an energy mix. And, The Statesman is quite happy that now the nation is, at least, talking about nuclear. When we made such a big issue of it last year not a word of interest was heard on the airwaves – not even in newspaper reviews! This must be progress.