Ghana's nuclear development is facing a jolt as a result of high attrition rate at the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), the Director-General (D-G) of the Authority, Dr Nii Kwashie Allotey has said.
In 2022 alone, a total of 17 staff members resigned from the Authority, reducing the staff level from 95 to 78, he added.
Consequently, the D-G has appealed to the government to help address that situation as it continues to militate against the country's nuclear development agenda.
Dr Allotey said the Authority, in the last few years, had suffered serious attrition rate as some of its experienced staff members have left to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
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Shortage of staff impacts negatively on operations
In an exclusive interview with The Ghanaian Times on Monday, Dr Allotey explained that the issue of staff shortage faced by the Authority was having a negative impact on its operations as it increased the workload on the limited staff members left, especially inspectors who travelled the length and breadth of the country to conduct inspections.
Also, he pointed out that the shortage of staff hampered the authority's programme of effectively preparing itself for regulating the nuclear power programme.
According to him, addressing the issue of staff shortage was important as a sufficient number of trained and competent staff members was a requirement of some international conventions that Ghana had ratified to ensure radiation and nuclear safety.
"We really need the government to respond positively to our employment request, especially since it directly affects public safety," he emphasised.
Dr Allotey asserted that the Authority had applied to the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Finance to employ 61 staff members and the application process, he said, began in late 2023.
Financial clearance
The Authority, he said, was expected to employ 25 new staff members before the end of March this year, while it was also engaging the Public Service Commission and its sector Ministry in the need for the extra 36 new staff members to be employed.
"We have applied to the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to employ new staff members. We started the application in late 2023 to employ 61 staff members," he said.
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"We got technical approval from Public Service Commission to employ 25 in May 2024, for which we received financial clearance from the MoF in November 2024. We finished interviews in January and are expected to employ these 25 staff members before the end of March this year," he added.
Engagement with FWSC
Dr Allotey said the NRA recently engaged with the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) to provide a better understanding of the operations of the NRA and its skill set.
He urged the FWSC to support the Authority in its operations and also recognise its critical skill set and the competitive market it operates in.
Mandate
The NRA was established by the NRA Act, 2015 (Act 895) and began operations in January 2016 with a statutory responsibility for regulating the civilian use of nuclear and other radioactive materials in medicine, industry, agriculture, education and research in Ghana.
It is also to ensure the protection of the general public, patients, and people who work with radiation from the harmful effects of radiations.
In addition, it regulates research reactors, the gamma irradiation facility; and radioactive sources used in medicine, industry, research, education and, in the near future, commercial nuclear power plants and the possession, use, transport, storage and the disposal of radioactive materials and radioactive waste; and also license the import and export of radioactive materials.
