AfrPowerOS country record
Kenya's nuclear & energy program
Kenya's nuclear power program status: Preparing (IAEA milestone phase 2). Confidence-labelled, cited records on capacity, grid targets, regulators, vendors and key events, from the open AfrPowerOS dataset.
Kenya — key facts
- CountryKenya
- RegionEast Africa
- Program statusPreparing — Infrastructure development before procurement
- IAEA milestone phasePhase 2 — Ready to invite bids / negotiate a contract
- Commercial reactors operating0
- Commercial reactors under construction0
- Planned capacity2.0 GW
- First grid target2034
- RegulatorKenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA)
- Implementing agencyNuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA)
- AgreementsBilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with IAEA, United States, South Korea, China and Russia
- Electricity access75.0%
- Installed capacity3300.0 MW
- ConfidenceVerified
- Last verified2026-08-16
Summary
Completed Phase 1 of the IAEA milestones (2018) and progressed site evaluation (IAEA SEED mission). First plant ~2,000 MW planned (KenGen–NuPEA MoU, Dec 2025, with plans to scale to 6,000 MW); construction target 2027 and first grid generation by 2034. Site and vendor selection not finalised.
Key events
- 2025-12KenGen–NuPEA MoU designates KenGen as owner-operator of ~2,000 MW first nuclear plant source
- 2026-03Kenya announces target of nuclear generation on grid by 2034 (ICONE 2026, Nairobi) source
- 2018Kenya completes Phase 1 of IAEA nuclear power milestones source
- 2024IAEA SEED (Site Evaluation) mission supports Kenyan site assessment source
Claims and confidence labels
- program_statusPreparingVerifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
- iaea_milestone_phase2Verifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
- commercial_reactors_operating0Verifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
- commercial_reactors_under_construction0Verifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
- capacity_gw_planned2.0Verifiedobserved 2026-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- first_grid_target_year2034Verifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
- agreementsBilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with IAEA, United States, South Korea, China and RussiaUnverifiedobserved 2024-03 · verified 2026-08-16 source
Sources
Related countries
Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia
Confidence labels: Verified (primary source), Inference (reasonable reading of verified evidence), Speculation (hypothesis), Unverified (reported, not confirmed). See the methodology.