Ghana has been seen as a potential market for small nuclear reactors and Ghanaian nuclear officials
have, on occasion, expressed an interest in such reactors. However, Ghana seems to be heading towards
procuring a reactor from Russia with a capacity of 1000–1200 MW. A power plant with such a large power
generation capacity is not appropriate to Ghana’s limited electricity grid or its financial circumstances.
This paper examines the likely reasons for this focus and argues that despite greater government interest
in setting up nuclear reactors, Ghana’s nuclear establishment may not have the political clout to force
through the purchase of a reactor, and has therefore attempted to position itself as a complete, one-stop
solution to Ghana’s electricity crisis, by calling for the construction of just one or two large nuclear power
plants. The paper draws on the role of discursive elements in energy policy making, discusses the policy
implications of this reactor choice, and offers evidence for the proposition that decision about nuclear
power are not made on the basis of merely techno-economic considerations but are driven by a range of
social and political factors.