Episode description

At the big COP climate summit last December, more than 20 countries pledged to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050 to help cut carbon emissions. The signatories included familiar nuclear names such as the US, France and Japan...but also newcomers, like Ghana.

Although Ghana doesn’t currently have any nuclear power plants, president Nana Akufo-Addo says he wants to build one or two by 2030. So why is this African nation turning to nuclear? How will it pay for the multi-billion-dollar power plants? And will this help fight climate change?

Presenter Graihagh Jackson is joined by: on-the-ground reporter Thomas Naadi; Dr Michael Bluck, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London; and Dr Kacper Szulecki, research professor at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs.

Production team: Octavia Woodward, Ben Cooper, Brenda Brown, Simon Watts, Matt Willis.

Sound design by Tom Brignell.