Abstract

This paper investigates whether a centralized or highly coordinated international legal regime is required to attract private capital for commercial nuclear energy projects. By situating nuclear power at the intersection of climate change mitigation, electrification, and state sovereignty, the analysis addresses a central tension: although nuclear energy is frequently cited as an essential low-carbon electricity source, its deployment is constrained by legal, financial, and political risks that private capital is unwilling to assume without robust legal guarantees.

Adopting a legal-realist methodology grounded exclusively in existing international nuclear law and practice, the paper argues that states have already accepted significant limitations and partial waivers of their sovereign prerogatives to render nuclear investment viable. These limitations are embedded in international safeguards regimes, harmonized safety standards, specialized nuclear liability conventions, constraints on jurisdiction, and long-term governmental commitments that stabilize regulatory environments. Far from abolishing sovereignty, these mechanisms reconfigure it, reallocating specific regulatory and adjudicatory competences to manage transboundary risk and meet investor expectations.

The paper subsequently addresses the opposing legal perspective, which advocates for national regulatory and judicial supremacy based on democratic legitimacy, national security, institutional development, and sovereign equality. Although the normative significance of these concerns is recognized, the analysis shows that current sovereignty limitations are inadequate to fully mitigate risks associated with nuclear investment, especially in developing economies, thus perpetuating disparities in access to nuclear energy.

The paper concludes that further, carefully calibrated sovereignty constraints may be necessary in certain contexts if nuclear energy is to contribute meaningfully to global decarbonization efforts. It advocates a criteria-based, transparent, and proportional approach to sovereignty limitations, emphasizing responsible sovereignty and good-faith cooperation as indispensable foundations of a sustainable international nuclear legal order.