Recently, MInT Minister Belete Molla (PhD) had discussed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) African Division Director Shaukat Abdulrazak (PhD) on bolstering future cooperation to apply nuclear energy for peaceful objectives.
The minister mentioned in the discussion about Ethiopia’s homegrown economic reform agenda and country’s readiness to develop nuclear energy in order to use it as an option to make balance between the demand and supply of energy under its green economy strategy.
He said that his ministry is keen to strengthening cooperation and closely working with IAEA on utilizing nuclear as an energy option, to apply it for cancer treatment experiments and other sectors.
IAEA African Division Director Shaukat Abdulrazak (PhD) on his part said that the Agency is ready to give capacity building supports to Ethiopia to enable the country utilize nuclear energy for agriculture, health, power generation, research and other sectors.
Currently, IAEA is supporting some Ethiopian professionals to get training on using nuclear for health in Italy and Ghana that extended between 6 to 11 months. Similarly, the Agency has facilitated an opportunity to Ethiopians to raise their awareness about utilizing the multifaceted nuclear energy for sustainable development by sharing experiences from fellow professionals and experts in the field in a program organized in Morocco.
He also pledged his Agency’s extended similar support on capacity building works. The two sides concluded their discussion reaching mutual agreement on strengthening their integrated efforts on utilizing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Upgrading the knowledge of utilizing nuclear energy is crucial to countries like Ethiopia that need more energy for development in various fields. The leading nuclear energy demanding sector is health in this country. Various development activities are also being undertaken so that they need more energy in which the nation might force to tap this energy. Therefore, improving nuclear knowledge and its application is crucial to accelerate country’s prosperity in which consolidating partnership with international organizations like IAEA is essential.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD DECEMBER 3/2021
