Empirical Study of Failure Factors in Deploying Nuclear Power Plants in Newcomer
Countries

With the rising demand for electricity and the simultaneous urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear energy is being revisited worldwide. As of 2022, 32 countries have operating nuclear power plants, and at least 30 countries have expressed an interest in deploying nuclear power programs. With or without nuclear power plants, some countries have postponed or canceled their peaceful nuclear power development programs. Few studies have discussed the failures of nuclear power programs. Therefore, this study aims to identify the critical factors that affect a country's decision to scrap or proceed with a peaceful nuclear power program. We collected over 80 countries' data on nuclear power development from 1960 to 2020. Thirty-two of those countries have operating nuclear power plants, and 50 countries had expressed an interest in nuclear power programs or had nuclear power plants under construction. Preliminary empirical analyses of the time-series datasets show that the occurrence of a nuclear accident (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima) was one of the most significant factors in scrapping a nuclear power program.