UC Berkeley

In 2019, unprecedented extreme weather conditions occurred in several parts of the world as the temperature of the earth’s surface hit a record high. This deterioration of environmental conditions can largely be attributed to rise in emissions resulting from high energy demand. The concentration of carbon emissions in 2018 was at its highest level in over 800,000 years, at 413 parts per million driven by higher energy demand. The energy sector contributed to about two-thirds of this growth in emissions. Coal use in power alone surpassed 10 Gt CO2, mostly in Asia. Renewable energy sources and nuclear power met the majority of this growth in demand. Still, generation from coal and gas-fired power plants has increased considerably, continuing to ramp up emissions.While an effort globally is needed, developing nations are a critical part of reducing emissions. In the US and most of Europe, discussions on a cleaner grid revolve around higher reliability, more efficiency, and affordability. However, in many developing countries in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the bigger question is to ensure electricity supply, as the nations in those regions go through rapid industrialization and population growth. As such, these countries remain dependent on fossil fuels. In Africa for example, states grapple with power infrastructural deficit requiring over $90 billion in investment. Together, 48 countries that form sub-Saharan Africa have only 170 gigawatts (GW) in installed capacity generation. This renders approximately 625 million people in Africa without electricity. When incorporated in the grid with renewable energy sources, nuclear energy offers a workable option. Therefore, while expanding generation from renewable sources, countries in Southern Asia like India, and Southeast Asia like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are expanding and exploring their nuclear power programs to cope with the growing energy demand while also reducing emissions. Yet, there are major barriers for these countries to pursue commercial nuclear power generation. This dissertation seeks to analyze and propose plausible options to these issues by studying the relevant international instruments and domestic policies pertaining to nuclear energy and investigate the legal and policy aspects of nuclear safety, regulation, nuclear non-proliferation, and liability management that act as barriers to nuclear energy investment in these regions.