Kenyan Nuclear Plant Plan Faces Legal Challenge Over Lake Victoria Risks

Kenyan authorities are proceeding with a 2,000‑5,000‑megawatt nuclear power plant at Bondo near Lake Victoria, despite a 2023 Strategic Environmental Assessment that warned of volcanic hazards that could compromise safety. Residents and human‑rights lawyer Dickens Ochieng have filed a case with the East African Court of Justice on September 23, seeking to halt the project on ecological grounds and to require a transboundary environmental impact assessment, as Lake Victoria is shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The plant would affect the livelihoods of roughly 40 million people who depend on the lake for food, water and economic activity. The court’s decision could set a precedent for cross‑border environmental governance in the region.