Kenya has contracted a Chinese firm- China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC)- determine the most suitable location.
MPs on Tuesday heard that the exercise is expected to cost taxpayers Sh1.5 billion.
The government has zeroed in at the coast along the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana as the most ideal sites.
The Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana have been identified as top contenders for hosting the first nuclear power plant that Kenya plans to build in the next 8-10 years.
The Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) said it has contracted a Chinese firm- China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC)- determine the most suitable location in an ambitious two-year Site Characterisation study.
NuPEA put the consultation cost at Sh50 million.
The National Assembly's Energy committee on Tuesday heard that the exercise is expected to cost taxpayers Sh1.5 billion.
“Currently, we have zeroed in at the coast along the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana as the most ideal sites. We have excluded the Rift Valley because we need enough water to cool the plant,” Mr Collins Juma, the NuPEA chief executive said.
Even as the agency plans to set up the nuclear power plant with a 1,000 megawatt (MW) capacity by 2027, the Energy ministry has always argued that the country should only turn to atomic power when it has fully exploited other sources of energy.
