Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence

Examining the quest for nuclear power in Africa through the case of Ghana's Atomic Energy Commission, this comprehensive history of nuclear research places archival sources alongside interviews with town leaders, physicists and entrepreneurs to explore the impact of these scientific pursuits on Ghanaian society.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 19 September 2019
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

After Atomic Junction, along the Haatso-Atomic Road, lies the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, home to Africa's first nuclear program after independence. Travelling along this road, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare gathers together stories of conflict and compromise on an African nuclear frontier. She speaks with a generation of African scientists who became captivated with the atom and studied in the Soviet Union to make nuclear physics their own. On Pluton Lane and Gamma Avenue, these scientists displaced quiet farming villages in their bid to establish a scientific metropolis, creating an epicentre for Ghana's nuclear physics community. By placing interviews with town leaders, physicists, and local entrepreneurs alongside archival records, Osseo-Asare explores the impact of scientific pursuit on areas surrounding the reactor, focusing on how residents came to interpret activities on these Atomic Lands. This combination of historical research, personal and ethnographic observations shows how Ghanaians now stand at a crossroad, where some push to install more reactors, while others merely seek pipe-borne water.

After Atomic Junction, along the Haatso-Atomic Road, lies the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, home to Africa's first nuclear program after independence. Travelling along this road, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare gathers together stories of conflict and compromise on an African nuclear frontier. She speaks with a generation of African scientists who became captivated with the atom and studied in the Soviet Union to make nuclear physics their own. On Pluton Lane and Gamma Avenue, these scientists displaced quiet farming villages in their bid to establish a scientific metropolis, creating an epicentre for Ghana's nuclear physics community. By placing interviews with town leaders, physicists, and local entrepreneurs alongside archival records, Osseo-Asare explores the impact of scientific pursuit on areas surrounding the reactor, focusing on how residents came to interpret activities on these Atomic Lands. This combination of historical research, personal and ethnographic observations shows how Ghanaians now stand at a crossroad, where some push to install more reactors, while others merely seek pipe-borne water.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 228 x 154 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108457378