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Pulse Uganda has learnt that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development was offered 40 acres of land to set up the establishment.
Okaasai Opolot, the minister of state for energy, and other ministry representatives concluded negotiations and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the university on the strategic use of the site.
Okaasai said that although they had asked for 22 acres of land, the university felt obliged to offer 40 instead.
On the 22 acres, he said, they would now build a nuclear training and research complex, while the remaining 18 acres would house dorms for nuclear students and a hotel for visiting nuclear experts and lecturers who might fly into the nation.
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The feasibility studies for the nuclear training and research facility have already been finished, according to Okaasai, even though the actual building work is only expected to begin in 2025.
“Other students will be trained in Argentina, Russia, Korea, and China, among others, whose lecturers are members of countries under international atomic energy," he explained.
The land was deliberately handed to the government, according to Professor John Robert Ikoja, vice chancellor of Soroti University, with the aim of bringing more development and job possibilities to the area.
The construction of an international airport in Soroti City, he said, will be accelerated by the nuclear training and research centre, which will also bring about improved access to power and good roads.