ACCRA, May 21 Reuters Ghana will select by December a company to build its first nuclear power plant from contenders including France39;s EDF, U.S.based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation, an energy ministry official said.

South Korea39;s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation as well as Russia39;s ROSATOM were also competing for the contract expected to span the next decade, said Robert Sogbadji, deputy director for power in charge of nuclear and alternative energy.

Cabinet will approve the final choice. It can be one vendor or two nations; it will depend on the financial model and the technical details, Sogbadji told Reuters on Monday.

Ghana started considering building a nuclear power plant in the 1960s but the process was derailed by a coup. It revived the plan in 2006 with the International Atomic Energy Association39;s assistance, following a devastating power crisis that year.

Sogbadji said 16 countries and companies had responded to the government39;s request for vendors, but a technical team of state agencies led by the energy ministry narrowed it down to the current five nations.

Ghana, like other African countries, is increasingly looking to the possibility of nuclear power to close supply gaps in a continent where over 600 million people lack access to electricity.

Burkina Faso and Uganda have both signed agreements with Russia and China to construct their first nuclear power…