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SPEECH
DELIVERED BY OSAGYEFO THE PRESIDENT
AT THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE OF
GHANA’S ATOMIC REACTOR AT KWABENYA ON 25TH
NOVEMBER, 1964
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are gathered here this afternoon to mark
the beginning of Ghana’s Atomic Reactor
Centre. This Centre, when completed, will
enable Ghana to participate in the
developments now taking place in Atomic
Science. In this way, we shall be equipped
with the greater scientific knowledge and
the means to give richer service to our
people and to Africa.
Nearly three years ago, we decided to build
an Atomic Reactor in Ghana. We were fully
aware then that our motives might be
misconstrued, for the setting up of an atom
reactor is the first practical step to the
building of an atom bomb. We have always
stood for the use of fissionable material
exclusively for peaceful ends. We
consistently stood against the unnecessary
proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, and with equal consistency for
the abolition of such weapons.
Our sole motive in reaching the decision to
build the Centre which you now see rising
before you, is to enable Ghana to take every
advantage of the decisive methods of
research and development which mark our
modern world. It is essential to do this if
we are to impart to our development that
acceleration which is required to break even
with more advanced economies. We have
therefore been compelled to enter the field
of atomic energy, because this already
promises to yield the greatest economic
source of power since the beginning of man.
Our success in this filed will enable us to
solve the many-sided problems which face us
in all the spheres of our development in
Ghana and in Africa.
We know that doubts have been expressed
concerning the wisdom and practicability of
our decision. Many important but
inconclusive reasons have been advanced to
persuade us to abandon this project. But we
were not persuaded.
Let me say that, in the age of science and
technology, in this age of atomic revolution
neither Ghana nor Africa can afford to lag
behind other nations, or to ignore the
scientific developments of our time. Indeed
we start with certain definite advantages
over many nations which have preceded us in
the scientific revolution.
Allow me to remind you of the metaphysical
problem about the flea. You know that some
people have wondered, with some concern,
whether, assuming that there is a flea on
our back, there is on the back of that flea
a minor flea and upon the back of the minor
flea yet another mini-minor flea and so on,
ad infinitum. A similar problem was
expressed in the history of science about
matter.
We, however, have not had to prove for
ourselves that the atom can be split. We
have not had to discover that steam can
produce energy or that water power can be
used for the generation of electricity.
Indeed, we begin where many ended. We make
our start from the great body of scientific
and technological attainment which is the
common heritage of mankind. Beginning so
loftily as we do, there is no reason for us
to be timid in joining the forward march of
knowledge.
We have a second reason. In the field of
atomic research, it is known that the
development of the peaceful uses of atomic
energy can bring about a profound
transformation in the life of mankind. A
socialist society more than any other needs
to bring about such profound changes in
order to produce plenty for all.
We in Ghana, are committed to the building
of an industrialised socialist society. We
cannot afford to sit still and be mere
passive onlookers. We must ourselves take
part in the pursuit of scientific and
technological research as a means of
providing the basis for our socialist
society, Socialism without science is void.
Corps of Ghana Specialist
Already the residential site, where the many
Ghanaian scientists and engineers who will
be engaged in this project will live, has
been completed. These young men and women,
who had received their specialised training
in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, will
provided the basis for our corps of skilled
specialists in nuclear science. We are
sending more Ghanaians abroad to acquire
this specialist knowledge and training.
We have now embarked on the second stage of
the project. This will include the
construction of the reactor itself and the
construction of a monitoring station to
ensure that no harmful radioactive
substances are released or disseminated.
Radio-chemical laboratories are to be built
where the elaborate procedures for
processing radioactive sustenance will be
carried out. There will also be the many
other ancillary buildings which such a
project calls for.
By 1966 the reactor itself should be in
operation, and the Research Centre will have
started on the extensive programme of
research for which all these elaborate and
intricate preparations are being made.
Every state of this complicated preparatory
work has been carried through with the aid
of specialist and scientist provided by the
Government of the Soviet Union. At all
stages there has been the closest and most
friendly co-operation between Ghana and the
Soviet Union. The friendly relations between
our two countries have been strengthened by
the success of this common endeavour.
In 1961 I caused the Ghana Atomic Energy
Commission to be established to guide and
direct this enterprise. Our Atomic Energy
Commission now operates in close
relationship with the International Atomic
Energy Agency. Only recently the Director
and the Deputy Director of the Agency
visited Ghana, and commented favourably on
the breadth of vision of our plans.
We believe that the amount of energy which
can be generated in Ghana, can play a
decisive role in the development of our
industry, agriculture, health and other
services. Certainly, the foundations for the
effective and rapid industrialisation of our
country must rest on the provision of cheap
and abundant power.
The Volta River Project
This is why we have placed our faith in the
Volta River Project which, perhaps, might
never have been started without the personal
interest of the late President Kennedy and
the assistance of the United States
Government. Without the friendly relations
between Ghana and the United States of
America, this project would not have been
possible.
As I speak, the Volta Lake has risen
two-hundred-and-sixty feet, and it is
confidently expected that power can be
generated at Akosombo by the end of 1965.
The biggest consumer of this power will be
the Aluminium Smelter which is to be
established by the Volta Aluminium Company
at Tema. I am glad to announce that the
ground breaking ceremony to mark the
beginning of work on this Smelter, for which
we have also received assistance from the
United States Government, will take place in
ten days’ time, on Saturday, 5th December.
I have also recently directed the Ghana
Atomic Energy Commission to investigate and
expand research on the possibilities of
solar energy, which is already going on at
the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology. It is estimated that even
one-tenth of the solar energy failing on the
earth’s surface would be enough to produce
an amount of energy several times the amount
generated at present. In Africa we have no
lack of sunlight, and the development of
solar energy should, in fact, be one of our
main scientific preoccupations.
The Nuclear threat
Ladies and Gentlemen
Science can be applied for good ends, for
the betterment of the human race, or for bad
ends, for the making of weapons of
destruction. In no field of science is the
contrast between these two aspects so great
as it is in atomic energy. The hydrogen
bomb, that instrument of mass destruction
which we all fear and dread so much, is
based on the same source of power.
Scientists hope that, in the very near
future, thermo-nuclear reaction will release
unlimited resources of power for industrial
use.
If the world can survive the threat of
annihilation posed by the hydrogen bomb, and
other agents of mass destruction, then the
peaceful application of thermo-nuclear
energy, which is at present predominantly
turned to warlike purposes, will bring about
an unprecedented release of the human race
from drudgery and fear, starvation and
poverty, which is now the lot of so many.
It is in this important field that the
peaceful uses of nuclear energy can play
such a major role. The greatest happiness of
the greatest number is only possible by the
purposeful application of science to
peaceful ends.
One of the most urgent tasks before us,
therefore, is to secure world-wide, total
and complete disarmament and the banning of
all nuclear devices of mass destruction.
This process is rapidly becoming more urgent
and more difficult as the number of nations
which have access to these weapons
increases. That is why we support
wholeheartedly the efforts by the
Organisation of African Unity and the United
Nations to make Africa a Nuclear Free Zone.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Scientists the world over have recognised
the urgency and danger of our nuclear
predicament, and their own special
responsibility and involvement in it. The
Scientist is a social being and cannot
effect an idealistic unconcern for the
destiny of mankind. The scientist can, by
his specialised knowledge, affect our whole
fate. He must, for this reason, accept a
proportionate obligation in public affairs.
Many issues can be resolved only on the
basis of scientific and technical knowledge.
For this, the public and the government turn
to the scientist for advice. It is the
scientist’s duty to serve them well
conscientiously and scrupulously, without
regard for personal ambition, or the natural
wish to say what is pleasant to hear.
The scientist must also explain to us the
consequences of our acceptance of his
advice. He cannot accept credit for the
great advances in medicine, agriculture and
industry, and at the same time disclaim
responsibility for the sequences of weapons
of mass destruction. Here the scientists
have an obligation to make the governments
and people of the world fully aware of the
dangers facing them, and to give sober and
disinterested advice.
We must unite in our fight for peace and
complete disarmament. People of all national
must bend every effort towards the
development of science and technology which
would herald a new and happy future for
mankind. We in Ghana propose to set a
forceful example by restricting our efforts
in the field of atomic research to
exclusively peaceful uses. To advance
science in the service of man, is to advance
socialism; to advance socialism, is to
abolish imperialism, in all its forms and
manifestations.
The Ghana Atomic Energy Programme is
destined for peaceful purposes. Ghana was
one of the first countries to sign the
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Moscow.
Incomplete though the provisions of that
Treaty are, we intend to abide by its terms.
Neither this Reactor, therefore, nor the
Laboratories attached to it, nor indeed any
other nuclear facilities in Ghana, will be
directed to the Development of devices for
war.
Focal Point for Ghanaian Scientists
This reactor is designed for experimental
work in the field of nuclear and atomic
physics, including the study of the
properties of materials and how they are
affected by radiations and radio-chemistry.
“It will serve as a focal point for
scientists and research workers from the
various institutes of the Ghana Academy of
Sciences, from our Universities and from
government laboratories all over the
country. Here they will be provided with
facilities for investigations involving
nuclear techniques in biology, agriculture,
medicine, physics and chemistry. It will be
a centre for the training of Ghanaian
scientist in nuclear science and
technology”.
A heterogeneous nuclear research reactor, as
well as an up-to-dated radio-chemical
laboratory and the development of the
peaceful uses of atomic energy in Ghana will
be centred around the Nuclear research
Institute to be established here.
A Radio-Isotope Centre is assisting five
agricultural centres of the Ghana Academy of
Sciences and the University of Ghana in the
application of radio-isotope techniques in
the study of plant protection from weeds and
insect pests, and the uptake of fertilisers
by plants under local conditions.
Among other uses of nuclear power, it is
hoped to develop peaceful uses of nuclear
explosives for excavation, mining and
recovery of gas and oil. The Atomic Reactor
Centre will provide experimental channels
for the study of radiation genetics. Through
these researches it will become possible to
find a way of inducing genetic changes in
plants and animals to provide better crops
and better meat.
In point of fact, we are not entirely
newcomers to this field of endeavour. For
some time now the Ghana Academy of Sciences
has been pursuing a programme of research
work in which radio-active materials have
been applied to many problems in agriculture
and medicine.
During the coming year, the scope of this
work will be greatly increased. It will
provide the wide range of facilities needed
to train many more research workers and
technicians for this programme. The
International Atomic Energy Agency is
sending a mobile radio-isotope laboratory to
Ghana early next year to assist in this
training programme.
In planning this Centre, we have been
painfully aware of our limitations in men
and material, and the variety and complexity
of the research problems which face Africa
as a whole. Until we in Africa come
together, and establish a Union Government
for all Africa, we shall be forced to tackle
our problems in isolation, hampered by our
disunity and many disabilities. Progress
will be slow, and we shall deny ourselves
and advantages of well-integrated and
commonly executed planning.
This is another of the many compelling
reasons why we in Ghana have made a
persistent appeal for the early
establishment of a Continental Government of
Africa.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the basis of our whole
programme of socialist development must be
the application of Science and Technology.
For the implementation of our Seven-Year
Plan, for the success of our agricultural
industry, for ensuring increased output in
industrial production demand, we must apply
the latest scientific techniques, we,
especially our young men and women must
acquire and master these new techniques.
Science Education
We are already making every effort to raise
both the number and the quality of the
scientists who come from our Universities
and to raise the standards of the science
teaching in the schools. We have made great
progress in this field. Much more remains to
be done. There are not nearly enough
Ghanaian scientists and Ghanaian technicians
of all kinds for the work we have on hand.
Even the finest laboratory, the best
equipment or, indeed, the best reactor, will
not produce scientific work of their own
accord.
Only men and women can do that, and only
after long and highly specialised training
in scientific techniques. Hence we need to
press on with the greatest urgency the
scientific and technological training of
young Ghanaians. Every boy or girl who shows
talent in this direction must be encouraged
and helped, because such talent is
especially precious to us and we must foster
and guard it. Our Universities, the various
Institutes of the Ghana Academy of Sciences,
the University College of Science Education
in Cape Coast, our newly established Medical
School and the proposed University College
of Agriculture, will help in providing this
training.
We need also to reach out to the mass of the
people who have not had the opportunities of
formal education. We must use every means of
mass communication – the press, the radio,
television and films – to carry science to
the whole population – to the people.
Last year, as part of the Academy
anniversary celebrations, there was a
science exhibition in Accra. This year there
has been another one in Kumasi. Similar
exhibitions have been held in our
Universities in Kumasi and Accra. The
enthusiastic response to these exhibitions
and the eager way in which our young men and
women studied the exhibits was most
encouraging.
The projected National Science Museum when
completed, next year, will provide this kind
of exhibition in a permanent form. This is a
major project which will play a great part
in exciting public interest in science and
conveying in a direct and vivid way the
impact of science on everyday life.
It is most important that our people should
not only be instructed in science but that
they should take part in it, apply it
themselves in their own ways. For science is
not just a subject to be learned out of a
book or form a teacher. It is a way of life,
a way of tackling any problem which one can
only master by using it for oneself. We must
have science clubs in which our people can
develop their own talents for discovery and
invention.
The Role of the Ghana Academy
of Sciences
I expect the Ghana Academy of Sciences to
play a leading role in all this. To that
end, I have asked the Academy to prepare a
first seven-year national programme for the
promotion of science in Ghana. This plan,
which is ready for implementation, will
ensure that within the next seven years,
science becomes part and parcel of the life
of our people.
In order to provide the necessary physical
facilities, and also to make for the maximum
co-ordination of effort, I am contemplating
the creation of a special scientific
community where scientists of the Academy
from different fields will live and work.
The scheme will enable the scientists to
share common facilities, and also increase
personal communications between scientists
working on related problems. I have proposed
the name. “Science City” for this scientific
community. It will have a main central
building to be known as “the Palace of
Science” containing a whole range of
laboratories and other facilities.
The Science City will accommodate a number
of special research institutes and will be a
centre where the Academy will undertake
pilot industries based on its discoveries,
so that when the Academy recommends the
setting up of any full scale industry it
will be in a position not only to give
expert advice on the type of industrial
plants to be established, but to make the
necessary economic appraisal of the proposed
industry.
One of the most important projects planned
for the Science City is a National Bureau of
Standards where the testing of the quality
of both imported and locally manufactured
products will be undertaken to ensure that
they conform to acceptably standards.
The Ghana Academy of Sciences should not be
just a body of learned men elected for their
distinction and eminence. It should be a
part of our national life, serving the
people of Ghana, working with them and
helping to bring science and scientists into
the closest possible relationship with their
lives.
It is only through this practical union of
theory and action that the life of man can
attain the highest material, cultural, moral
and spiritual fulfilment in the service of
his fellow men. This ultimately is the only
justification for the pursuit of knowledge
and the discoveries of science.
And now Ladies and Gentlemen, let me turn to
the historic business before us today. I
dedicate this Reactor to the progress of
true science, to the application of science
to the well-being of man, to the enlargement
of his spirit and to the promotion of peace.
I have great pleasure in laying this
Foundation Stone of Ghana’s Atomic Reactor
Centre.
The Atomic Reactor Center at Kwabenya
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