TITLE: AFRICA’S NUCLEAR FUTURE DEPENDS ON SKILLS BUILT TODAY
By Riedewaan Bakardien, Chief Executive Officer, National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI)
As African countries intensify efforts to secure reliable, low-carbon energy systems, nuclear energy is re-emerging as a strategic option across the continent. Yet beyond technology choices and financing models lies a more fundamental question: does Africa have the skills base required to sustain nuclear programmes over multiple generations? South Africa’s annual matric results provide a useful lens through which to examine this question. They remind us that energy policy is inseparable from education outcomes, and that long-term infrastructure decisions depend on scientific capability cultivated decades in advance.
A Global Nuclear Skills Challenge – With African Consequences
Globally, the nuclear sector faces a well-documented skills gap. International assessments indicate that up to 40% of the existing nuclear workforce will retire within the next decade, even as demand accelerates across energy, medicine, research, decommissioning and waste management. At the same time, nuclear deployment is expanding. More than 60 reactors are under construction worldwide, over 100 are in advanced planning, and several hundred small modular reactor (SMR) concepts are moving through design and licensing stages. Nuclear medicine, industrial isotopes and research applications are also growing, particularly in healthcare, mining, agriculture and materials science. For African countries exploring nuclear energy, whether for power generation, medical applications or research, this global skills shortage is not an abstract concern. It directly affects localisation, safety, regulatory confidence and long-term sustainability.
The Strategic Role of Radioactive Waste Management
One of the least visible, yet most critical, components of the nuclear value chain is radioactive waste management. Unlike project-based infrastructure, waste management operates on multi-decade, and often multi-generational, time frames. Facilities are designed, licensed, monitored and governed over periods that far exceed budgetary cycles. This makes radioactive waste management both a strategic public function and a durable skills platform. It draws on disciplines including geology, seismology, radiochemistry, radiation protection, environmental science, engineering, data analytics, logistics and regulatory affairs.These skills are globally transferable, scientifically rigorous and aligned with long-term stewardship responsibilities. For Africa, building competence in this domain is not optional. It is foundational to public confidence, regulatory credibility and international compliance.
South Africa’s Long-Term Nuclear Commitments
South Africa’s experience offers useful lessons for the continent. The country’s nuclear ecosystem spans power generation, research, medical isotope production, regulation and waste management. NRWDI’s mandate includes managing and disposal of radioactive waste from Eskom’s Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, Necsa and other generators, and preparing for future national facilities. Two long-term projects anchor this system:
- A Centralised Interim Storage Facility (CISF), expected to receive spent fuel from Koeberg around 2030; and
- A Deep Geological Repository (DGR), anticipated to provide permanent disposal around 2065.
These timelines underscore a critical reality: nuclear capability cannot be developed reactively. Skills must be built, transferred and sustained over generations, supported by long – term research programmes, institutional memory and international collaboration.
Skills Localisation and Social Licence
South Africa also illustrates a challenge common across Africa: nuclear facilities are often located away from metropolitan centres where STEM graduates are concentrated. NRWDI’s Vaalputs National Nuclear Waste Disposal Facility, for example, is situated approximately 110 kilometres outside of Springbok in the Northern Cape. This geographic reality presents both a risk and an opportunity. Developing local and regional skills pipelines strengthens operational resilience, supports social licence, and embeds nuclear capability within host communities. For Africa, localisation is not only an economic imperative, it is essential for legitimacy, continuity and trust. Targeted investment in STEM education, bursaries, teacher support and early exposure to science careers is therefore inseparable from nuclear infrastructure planning.
From Education Outcomes to Energy Security
Across the continent, education systems continue to struggle with mathematics and physical science throughput. This constrains engineering enrolments and limits entry into nuclear – related fields. Yet countries pursuing nuclear programmes are simultaneously those investing heavily in STEM ecosystems, recognising that energy security and industrialisation depend on human capital. For South Africa, and Africa more broadly, this requires coordination across education authorities, energy institutions, regulators and universities. It also aligns with national and continental skills strategies that identify scientific and technical capability as scarce and critical.
A Durable Opportunity for Africa’s Youth
For young Africans with strong mathematics and science aptitude, the nuclear sector offers careers that are globally relevant, intellectually rigorous and purpose-driven. Unlike many industries vulnerable to rapid disruption, radioactive waste management and nuclear stewardship offer continuity, stability and long-term impact. International training programmes, research partnerships and industry bursaries already provide pathways into these fields. Aligning such initiatives to long-term projects, such as interim storage and geological disposal ensures that skills development is not abstract, but directly linked to national and regional needs.
Building Capabilities That Endure
If Africa is to realise the benefits of nuclear technology, three alignments are essential:
- Educational alignment – stronger STEM throughput and technical training;
- Institutional alignment – cooperation across utilities, regulators, research bodies and universities;
- Long-term capability alignment – matching long-life infrastructure with sustained talent pipelines.
Nuclear capability cannot be built in a single funding cycle. It must be deliberately cultivated, internationally benchmarked and responsibly stewarded. As African countries debate their energy futures, the critical question is no longer whether nuclear skills are needed. The question is whether we will invest early enough and collectively enough to ensure those skills are available when they are most needed.
Mr. Riedewaan Bakardien will be among the distinguished speakers at the Nuclear Forum 2026, an official side event of the Africa Energy Indaba – Africa’s premier energy conference and exhibition, happening 3-5 March 2026 in Cape Town. Join policymakers, investors and innovators driving the continent’s sustainable energy transformation. Visit www.africaenergyindaba.com to register.