Nuclear Energy Policy Research Articles

In Search of Energy Security: Nuclear Energy Development in the Visegrad Group Countries

The Visegrad Group, comprising Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, has several common features, including their geographical proximity, membership in the EU and NATO, and similar levels of economic development. However, they also have significant differences. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed new disagreements among them, particularly regarding how to ensure energy security amid a changing geopolitical landscape and the issue of sanctions on Russian energy supplies. Despite these differences, the Visegrad Group countries have shown unity in their approach to nuclear power. Although their use of nuclear technology varies, they have recently aligned their nuclear energy policies. Czechia and Slovakia have a long history with nuclear technology, dating back to the 1970s, while Hungary began its nuclear program in the 1980s. Poland, which had paused its nuclear program after the Chernobyl disaster, has recently resumed its nuclear energy efforts. All four countries aim to expand their nuclear energy capacity to either maintain or increase its share in their electricity mix. This paper provides a comparative analysis of their nuclear energy policies, focusing on the political initiatives driving advancements in this field. It argues that these nations see nuclear energy as crucial for creating a resilient, crisis-resistant, and secure energy sector.

The Role of Political Parties in the Public Perception of Nuclear Energy

Discussions about nuclear energy in Türkiye are held in the shadow of the political polarization between the People's Alliance and the Nation's Alliance. However, there are no comprehensive studies that have investigated how political polarization affects the social acceptance of nuclear energy. To investigate these effects, face-to-face interviews (n=52) were conducted with people living around the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. The study found two main results: first, the most important factor affecting the social acceptance of nuclear energy is the nuclear energy policies of the political parties they vote for; and second, those who vote for the People's Alliance, which advocates nuclear energy, have a high benefit perception, while those who vote for the Nation's Alliance, which opposes nuclear energy, have a high risk perception. The article concludes that Turkish nuclear energy policy is a highly political issue rather than just a strictly environmental one.

Two decades of nuclear energy policy and its impact on Indonesia: A bibliometric review

Two decades of nuclear energy policy and its impact on Indonesia: A bibliometric review

Investigating the aspiration and feasibility of a Turkish shift to nuclear weapons Is Erdogan’s narrative something to fear?

The aim of this study is to investigate why Türkiye might be interested in acquiring nuclear weapons and pursuing armament, and understand whether its nuclear aspirations are truly feasible. In line with existing theoretical nuclear armament models, particularly through realist and idealist views, this paper will determine whether nuclear proliferation in Türkiye can be expected. Considering that in recent years the Middle East region has had points of tension in relation to nuclear developments, it is essential to consider the ways in which international norms, Türkiye’s domestic context, and the role of political figures have impacted Ankara’s nuclear energy policy and demands for nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). By providing a detailed critique, and by taking into account the significance of the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 Presidential elections, this article will provide a nuanced understanding to Türkiye’s foreign and domestic policies, whilst providing a new perspective to armament theories.

Perspective taking and public acceptance of nuclear energy: Mediation of trust in government and moderation of cultural values

Given the increasing severity of global climate change, many countries such as China adopt nuclear energy as a priority strategy in energy policy because of its advantages of low carbon emissions and high electricity generation efficiency. However, public acceptance of nuclear energy (PANE) is a key factor that the government should to consider in making nuclear energy policy. Hence, understanding how to improve PANE is important. Based on the motivated information processing theory, this study explored the influence of perspective taking (PT) on PANE via competence-based and integrity-based trust in government, along with the moderating effects of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The findings, based on 1,052 valid Chinese samples collected by an online questionnaire survey, indicated that PT was positively related to PANE. Competence-based and integrity-based trust in government mediated the effect of PT on PANE. Moreover, the results demonstrated power distance strengthens whereas uncertainty avoidance weakens the positive effect of PT on competence-based and integrity-based trust in government. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for understanding the formation of PANE from perspective of public motivational factor related to information processing (i.e., PT), trust in government, and culture values.

Nuclear perceptions from radioactive blue to sustainable green: The EU taxonomy as reflection of a divided public

Following the Fukushima disaster, several European countries revisited their policies and decided to phase out nuclear energy production. More recently, however, the EU taxonomy proposed a classification system of environmentally sustainable economic activities and consequently reopened the debate regarding nuclear energy. This study analyses public comments about the inclusion or exclusion of nuclear energy as a response to climate change, in the conceptual frameworks of ecological modernization, sustainability and technological neutrality. The study highlights the challenge of shaping energy policies amid dynamic circumstances and diverse viewpoints. Proponents of nuclear energy emphasised its low‐carbon emissions and climate change mitigation potential, while opponents focused on issues of radioactive waste and environmental risks. The study reveals that sustainability emerges as a potential reconciling framework to match arguments to influence the EU's decision‐making, while it reflects the political primacy of this process. Finally, this research recommends improving feedback visibility and enhancing clear communication, and suggests further research directions to understand future EU nuclear energy policies.

Do the effects of aggregate and disaggregate energy consumption on different environmental quality indicators change in the transition to sustainable development? Evidence from wavelet coherence analysis.

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations (UN) member states in 2015, half of the target period has been exceeded. However, China, whose energy consumption relies heavily on fossil resources, remains at the top of the list of global polluters. Therefore, investigating the environmental impacts of energy types is essential to China's path towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-7 and SDG-13. Based on this motivation, the paper offers new insights into the energy-environment literature for China with wavelet coherence analysis (WCA). This approach can investigate the relationship between variables in a periodic manner based on the frequency behavior of the models. The paper separately analyzes the effects of primary energy consumption (PEC), fossil energy consumption (FEC), renewable energy consumption (REC), nuclear energy consumption (NEC), GDP, and population (POP) on three different environmental indicators in China. Using two environmental pollution indicators (carbon emission (CO2) and ecological footprint (EF)) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor (LCF)), the paper allows for comparison and robustness checks on the environmental impacts of energy indicators. Empirical findings reveal the following: (i) Except for REC and POP in the CO2 model, the variables in all three models largely move together during the period under observation; (ii) variables other than POP have consistent coefficient signs; (iii) PEC, FEC, NEC, and GDP increase CO2 and EF while decreasing LCF; (iv) the effect of NEC on LCF is more obvious until 2000; (v) unlike the others, REC affects CO2 and EF negatively and LCF positively; (vi) there is bidirectional causality between PEC and environmental indicators but not for REC; (vii) the causality relations of other variables with environmental indicators differ in terms of model, time, and direction of causality. In light of the findings, the paper highlights that only the REC improves environmental quality in China. Other energy indicators contribute to environmental degradation. China, whose ecological deficit has increased dramatically in recent years, urgently needs to reduce its dependence on fossil energy sources by accelerating investments in REC. Governments should also review nuclear energy policies, which are expected to help achieve carbon neutrality.

Between friend and foe: drivers and patterns of dyadic relationship framing in policy network

PurposeThis article aims to explore (1) specific frames of dyadic relationship in policy network beyond a simplistic dichotomy of “friend or foe” and (2) the multi-dimensional drivers behind the framing patterns.Design/methodology/approachTo that end, the interviews with the key actors in a nuclear energy policy network in South Korea were conducted, and their relationships in terms of three dimensions were analyzed: belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.FindingsAs a result, 12 relationships that can occur in the policy networks were identified: helping, collaborating, cooperating, unconcerned, stabilizing, observing, pushing, confronting, challenging, ignoring, watching and avoiding. These 12 frames were observed in various in-/congruent patterns between network actors.Originality/valueThe findings provide theoretical and practical implications on why and how the network actors may assess one another through the 12 discrete frames, which are drawn from the three dimensional drivers of belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.

Nuclear energy in Brazil: regulation, corruption, and prospects for energy generation

Abstract This article provides an overview of the historical development of the Brazilian nuclear regulatory environment and its implications for corruption in the nuclear energy sector. It explores Brazil's transition of nuclear energy policies from a military-centric approach to civilian perspectives following the country’s re-democratization in the 1980s. The article highlights the importance of nuclear energy diversification for stabilization and low-carbon energy generation in Brazil. It discusses the challenges and vulnerabilities of the Brazilian nuclear industry, focusing on the corruption scandal of 2015, revealing improper payments, mismanagement, bribery, and money laundering in constructing the Angra 3 nuclear power plant. The study proposes improvements in the corporate governance of the Brazilian sector to minimize potential corruption cases in future contracts. It analyses the conflict of interest among regulatory institutions, industry agents, and the corporate environment. This article also compares the Brazilian nuclear regulatory framework with international regulations and discusses strategies for combating corruption in nuclear power generation. The concluding remarks emphasize the need for institutional reforms to safeguard and develop the Brazilian nuclear industry.

Upholding the green agenda of COP27 through publicly funded R&D on energy efficiencies, renewables, nuclear and power storage technologies

Policy strategies to foster climate-change resilient ecosystems require broad-based identification of the mechanisms underlying the nexus. Prior investigations, maybe, inadvertently left so many factors unverified. Failing to verify, specifically, how climate change is influenced by public-funded research and development (R&D) on energy efficiencies, renewables, nuclear energy, and power storage technologies concealed vital policy insights. We have analyzed a panel series of the aforementioned factors stretching from 1985 to 2021 in the context of G10 countries. Several innovative panel techniques robust to cross-national exigencies were implemented. This includes two recently introduced third-generation panel unit-root procedures, the Banerjee and Carrion-i-Silvestre cointegration process, the fully-generalized least square, panel-corrected standard error, Driscoll-Kray standard errors, and the dynamic common correlated effects estimator. Long-run elasticities informed that total R&D expenditure on green-technologies is more effective in mitigating energy-induced emissions than the overall surface temperature. R&D expenditure on energy efficiencies, renewables, and nuclear energies performed better in minifying both metrics than power storage. Fossil fuel technologies remained inimical to environmental sustainability. Energy-tax promoted environmental quality significantly by reducing both energy emissions and climate temperature. It is commendable to invest more in energy-enhancing technologies but other factors that have a direct bearing on climate-change deserve consideration.

Social identities and deadlocked debates on nuclear energy policy

ABSTRACT Since the security of energy supply in Europe is at stake, the debate on energy sources prominently took hold on the agenda of European countries. Nuclear energy is one of the issues on this agenda. However, nuclear energy is discussed quite differently in Germany and France, although the two countries both experienced strong public protest in the 1970s and are similar in size, economy, industry and culture. By comparing the two, this article analyses the reasons for the different debates on nuclear energy existent in Germany and France. It argues that stances on nuclear energy form the core of social identities that prevent members of these groups to deviate from the group norm. The relevance of certain types of identities is a function of the institutions of the political system. To change the way energy sources are discussed, it is necessary to create or make salient different group identities.

Evaluating the performance of Indonesia’s nuclear energy program using INPRO methodology

Abstract A project was initiated to assess the sustainability of Indonesia’s planned nuclear energy system using the IAEA INPRO Methodology to develop an awareness of sustainability issues to support nuclear energy development strategic planning and decision making. Accordingly, for a nuclear energy system to be sustainable, fulfilment of current needs should not compromise the ability of future generations to meet theirs. The sustainability of the planned nuclear energy system was assessed based on the basic principles, user requirements and criteria in the areas of economics, infrastructure, waste management, proliferation resistance, physical protection, environment, and safety. The assessments covers the sustainability of a large reactor completed in 2014 to support the Pre-Feasibility Study in Bangka Belitung, and of a small and medium-sized reactor (SMR) currently ongoing to support the study in West Kalimantan. The results indicate that evidence of achieving sustainability exists in many respects, but there remain gaps to be addressed in due time on aspects such as economics, investment climate, availability of technology, and global development on non-renewable resources. A preliminary study on fuel cycle arrangements is being performed in parallel, focussing on collecting data including on fuel cycle services abroad. Collecting data has been the main challenge for a newcomer country that has yet to decide on the exact reactor technology. The paper is intended to evaluate the performance of Indonesia’s nuclear energy program using the INPRO Methodology to address the sustainability of its planned NES, i.e., reactors and fuel cycle facilities, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the efforts to achieve the purpose. Awareness of sustainability issues plays a key role in nuclear energy policy, especially for determining the energy mix by 2040, to achieve the Net Zero Emission policy target by 2060 or earlier.

Examining experts' discourse in South Korea's nuclear power policy making: An advocacy coalition framework approach to policy knowledge

AbstractIn disputes over public policy, public debates often hinge on the argument involving policy knowledge. One approach for studying policy knowledge is the Advocacy Coalition Framework, which theorizes that advocacy coalitions form around coherent beliefs partly about policy knowledge and invest in policy knowledge by working with expert allies. This article examines the role of academics, a type of expert, in discourse about South Korea's adversarial nuclear energy policy debates. Using Discourse Network Analyzer, we collect and analyze text from 502 South Korean newspaper articles from 2016 through 2019. We find that academics align with distinctive discourse involving policy knowledge in coalitions. However, we also show that there exist weak or inconsistent associations between some academics' centrality and the intensity of policy conflict. The findings contribute to understanding policy knowledge, the distinctive discourse of experts, and a systematic study of controversial policy making in a non‐Western country.Related ArticlesHeo, Inhye. 2022. “Energy Democratization Policy without Democratization of Policy Governance in South Korea: A Participatory Democracy Perspective.” Politics & Policy 50(4): 834–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12480.Lantis, Jeffrey S. 2019. “‘Winning’ and ‘Losing’ the Iran Nuclear Deal: How Advocacy Coalitions and Competition Shape U.S. Foreign Policy.” Politics & Policy 47(3): 464–505. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12299.Nowlin, Matthew C., Maren Trochmann, and Thomas M. Rabovsky. 2022. “Advocacy Coalitions and Political Control.” Politics & Policy 50(2): 201–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12458.

환경 문제에 대한 인식과 원자력 에너지에 대한 태도

The need for an energy transition from fossil fuel to cleaner energy sources has been widely recognized as climate change has increased the intensity of extreme weather events and posed a severe threat to human beings over time. As a result, many countries, including South Korea, have deliberately considered nuclear energy a safe and economical alternative to fossil fuels. Nevertheless, there has been a long-running debate about whether nuclear power is a clean and sustainable energy source. In this paper, we investigate whether individuals with a higher level of environmental perception and cognition are more likely to have less favorable attitudes toward nuclear energy. Specifically, utilizing 2021 Korean General Social Survey data, we construct the ‘environmental perception index’ by conducting a principal component analysis based on various questions about environmental issues and estimate its impacts on attitudes toward nuclear energy policy−stay the same/increase/decrease nuclear reactors−and on opinions about the safety of nuclear energy. We find evidence that respondents with a higher level of the ‘environmental perception index’ are more likely to support the policy to decommission nuclear facilities and be concerned about the safety of nuclear energy. Hence, additional analyses revealed that the effects of the environmental perception index are more evident for the non-partisan respondents, who may be less affected by the political discourses about nuclear energy. The findings of this paper have academic and policy implications by emphasizing the importance of environmental perceptions in evaluating energy policy.

A Framework for Assessing Nuclear Terrorism Threats in Bangladesh

We live in a world where thousands of nuclear weapons exist. Many countries and even terrorist organizations want to acquire nuclear weapons. The ambiguous and transnational nature of terrorist organizations challenges the national security of many states. Bangladesh is a small and densely populated country with a nuclear energy plant. Although Bangladesh has a nuclear energy policy, it has no atomic security policy or legal framework. The dearth of military capabilities, administrative facilities, and human resources with proper skills and experiences makes Bangladesh vulnerable to nuclear terrorist attacks. This research aims to build a framework that would be useful in assessing the security threats from the likelihood of nuclear terrorism in a country like Bangladesh. This nuclear security assessment framework could be useful in assessing security threats from nuclear terrorism in non-nuclear-weapon countries.

Deliberative Effect and Opinion Changes: The Cases of Deliberative Polling on South Korea’s Nuclear Energy Policies

Deliberative polling has been widely used globally to enhance democracy and deliberation on key policy issues. This study analyzed deliberative effects and opinion changes for two cases of deliberative polling on nuclear energy policy issues in South Korea: whether to resume/discontinue Shin-Gori No.5·6 nuclear reactors and whether to construct a temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel. By using logistic models, it found out deliberative effect working for opinion changes on Shin-Gori No.5·6 nuclear reactors issue, but not significantly for opinion changes on the issue of spent nuclear fuel. In addition, this study analyzed whether deliberative effect has a direction of opinion changes. Deliberative effect seems to have no directional effect regarding Shin-Gori No.5·6 nuclear reactors issue, whereas having a directional effect towards ‘Yes’ for the spent nuclear fuel issue.

Nuclear energy policy and city planning in the early days of nuclear energy development: Analysis of the construction process of the atomic center in Tokai Village

AbstractTokai Village is a home to the first commercial nuclear power plant in Japan, and Nuclear Power Plants are directly adjacent to residential districts there. This study investigates the context of this situation by looking back around 1960 when the plants were built and clarifying the development project ideas and decision‐making processes that were involved in the planning. The main findings are the following: Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) Inc. drafted the development plan for Tokai Village, founded Tokai Atomic Urban Development, acquired company sites. The Ibaraki Prefecture involved JAIF in making decisions on city planning of Tokai Village.

A framework of examining the factors affecting public acceptance of nuclear power plant: Case study in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi National Atomic Energy project aims to adopt peaceful nuclear technologies and be part of the country's energy mix. As emerging nuclear energy, it is essential to understand public concerns and acceptability of nuclear energy, as well as the factors influencing acceptance to develop nuclear energy policy and implement nuclear energy programs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the public attitudes and acceptance of nuclear energy among Saudi Arabian citizens by utilizing protection motivation theory and theory of planned behavior. A total of 1,404 participants answered a questionnaire which was distribute by convenience sampling approach. A Structural Equation Modeling framework was constructed and analyzed to understand public behavior toward building the country's first Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Before analyzing the data, the model was validated. The research concluded that the benefits of nuclear power plants were essential in determining people's acceptance of NPPs. Surprisingly, the effect of the perceived benefits was found higher than the effect of the perceived risks to the acceptance. Furthermore, the public's participation in this study revealed that the NPPs location has a significant impact on their acceptance. Based on the finding, several policy implementations were suggested. Finally, the study's model results would benefit scholars, government agencies, and the business sector in Saudi Arabia and worldwide.

‘Eco-Nuclear’ Energy Transformation? Authoritarian Environmentalism and Regulatory Policy in China

In light of China’s rapid growth and increasing engagement in the global climate regime, the authoritarian regulatory model has attracted attention from researchers and policymakers alike. This paper examines the question of to what extent and in what way state authoritarianism leads to (un)successful environmental policy implementation in China, with particular attention to energy transformation. This study inter-connects macro and micro inquiries through a case study of nuclear energy policy in China. An examination of the extended policy cycle as a comprehensive process that brings a policy to fruition shows that authoritarian regulatory environmental policy intervenes in each stage, resulting in a particular path of the evolution of environmental policy in nuclearising energy transformation in China. Adding to commonly accepted tenets of authoritarian environmentalism in general, the explanations of Chinese distinctiveness in materialising environmental policy enhances the understanding of the merits and challenges of authoritarian mechanisms of environmental policy.

Does nuclear energy consumption mitigate carbon emissions in leading countries by nuclear power consumption? Evidence from quantile causality approach

Nuclear energy has sparked international attention as one of the most important strategies for reducing emissions thanks to its ability to provide low-carbon power. Based on this interesting fact, the current research explores the effect of nuclear energy on CO2 emissions in the leading countries by nuclear power consumption using a quarterly dataset from 1990 to 2019. The study employs the quantile-on-quantile (QQ) estimator, which accounts for both non-parametric and conventional analyses and enhances the provision of unbiased and consistent estimates. In addition, the Granger causality in quantiles approach is adopted to assess the causality in quantiles between the variables of investigation. The outcomes from the QQ estimator reveals that in the majority of the quantiles, nuclear energy contributes to decreased degradation of the environment in the USA, France, Russia, South Korea, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, and Sweden. Contrawise, the feedbacks from Spain and China expose that Nuclear Energy Consumption (NUC) contributes to the deterioration of the environment. Moreover, the outcomes of the causality test disclose that nuclear energy and CO2 emissions can predict each other in the majority of the quantiles. The findings above provide profound ramifications for policymakers planning nuclear energy and CO2-emission policies towards achieving sustainable environment in the sample countries and beyond..