A dramatic rise in demand for energy is driving resurgent global interest in nuclear power. Many are drawn by its capacity to generate large scale, carbon-free baseload electricity over decades. Numerous countries are expanding, starting, or exploring nuclear power. Some governments have pledged to triple or even quadruple nuclear generation by 2050 , with aims to strengthen energy security, boost economic and industrial development, and mitigate energy poverty while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Yet the foundation for a broad global expansion of nuclear power is shaky. Nuclear energy projects carry a number of specific risks: huge upfront costs, time lag to energy delivery, and potential for cost overruns and constructions delays. Though some new designs promise to mitigate these risks through revolutionary construction and operation plans, their economic and business viability is as yet unproven. For these reasons, governments, financiers and lenders, utilities, and consumers have been shy about turning enthusiasm into bankable contracts.

Beyond these specific risks, the domestic and global politics of nuclear energy remain fraught. Most countries are struggling to find politically and environmentally sound and proliferation-resistant paths to handle irradiated nuclear fuel and waste. International political discord is eroding the trust and cooperation necessary to mitigate spillover effects that could emanate from a nuclear incident, especially in light of the traumatic nuclear accidents that linger in public memory. The occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant highlights the risks of nuclear facilities being targeted in conflict. And there is manifest interest in several prominent countries in military use of nuclear energy or nuclear weapons. Nuclear energy issues are also often lamentably caught up in debates about disarmament, nonproliferation, and geopolitics more broadly.

In light of these challenges and risks, strengthening the political foundation for nuclear energy is critical if it is to deliver on aspirations for a global resurgence and to meet the expectations of parties pursuing it for peaceful or other non-weapons purposes. In the first instance, this requires ascertaining that international nuclear practices, instruments, institutions, and norms are fit for purpose and designed to deliver on the promise of safe, sustainable, clean, and abundant nuclear energy over the long term. Broadly, there is need for a common basis of nuclear norms and standards. These can and should build on existing frameworks and institutions, but ultimately will need to grow beyond them, to bridge institutional silos and political divides, not least between nuclear technology holders and nuclear aspirants, and between states with nuclear weapons and those without.

To that end, and to support those who wish to enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy while seeking to minimize the various risks, we recommend that countries pursue a common political agenda for nuclear energy. Specifically, we propose some overarching principles for responsible peaceful use of nuclear energy to establish as a first step to overcome international disagreement and focus states on their shared interests and points of agreement. Ideally these principles will inspire agreement and facilitate cooperation among all pertinent stakeholders in relevant international settings. These include political gatherings, such as the United Nations General Assembly, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the G20, and COP, as well as professional ones like the IAEA General Conference and meetings of the Nuclear Energy Agency, World Association of Nuclear Operators, and others.

Promoting Responsible Nuclear Energy Conduct

Developed through a series of dialogues convened in New York with officials from a broad range of governments and iterated with expert colleagues, the following set of draft Principles for Responsible Nuclear Conduct (PRNC) recognize the centrality of trust in the responsible handling of nuclear technology. Trust is necessary for societies to meaningfully benefit from nuclear energy, given its unique potency and the interdependence of the numerous enterprises involved.

In this context, the principles aim to codify core responsible practices and establish a common universal platform of high-level policy guidelines that cut across institutional and professional silos and affirm actions that would enable states and industry to harness nuclear power and other nuclear applications for peaceful uses. The principles also implicitly seek to discourage behaviors that could undermine these benefits for some or all stakeholders, or, worse, result in a nuclear catastrophe. The PRNC focus on peaceful uses of nuclear energy but are informed by a clear understanding of the inherent dual-use nature of nuclear technology, its associated international and national governance, and how it is situated in the contemporary international security environment. 

Securing agreement on each principle individually could be a fraught exercise given the complexity of today’s international politics. However, in a concise package that largely builds upon and integrates established norms, practices, and institutions, it may be easier to accommodate the varied interests of states and to endorse the principles as critical pillars for a nuclear community that meets global demands and performs predictably for the decades that these technologies operate.

While rapid unilateral pledges endorsing these principles are welcome, the most expedient path to promoting broad adherence is to anchor them in a prominent international political setting.  

 Nine Principles

1. The benefits associated with peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be available to all, and all have a vested interest in preventing these applications from posing acute risks. Thus, all those who possess nuclear technology commit to work individually and collectively to help others seeking to employ nuclear energy for peaceful purposes fully appreciate the unique opportunities and risks presented by this technology and to reap its benefits in ways that minimize risks to their citizens, the environment, and to other nations. 
2. States possessing nuclear energy technology or seeking to acquire it commit to exercise their authority to ensure that the construction, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear power plants and disposition of irradiated fuel and nuclear waste will be carried out in strict accordance with all pertinent international nuclear conventions, agreements, and standards on safety, security, and nonproliferation. Such programs should apply best practices and incorporate lessons learned from past experience with nuclear technology. Given the multigenerational footprint of nuclear applications, states should incorporate the evolution of requirements as part of their commitment.
3. In this endeavor, a special role is reserved for leading international nuclear institutions, first and foremost the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). States should seek to enhance cooperation with the IAEA, as well as other nuclear-oriented multinational organizations, such as the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), and industry peer groups, such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS). Together they should endeavor to strengthen relevant institutions, reinvigorate their practices, and enhance the transparency of their operations as understanding of the evolving landscape places on them more demands and challenges.
4. Notwithstanding the special responsibility of governments, nuclear enterprises—private and state-owned—involved in all phases of the nuclear lifecycle recognize their stake in responsible, peaceful utilization of nuclear technology. Additionally, nuclear enterprises undertake to abide by and facilitate implementation of all international nuclear conventions and agreements as well as nuclear industry best practices pertinent to their activities and sharing of best practices among users of like technologies. Upholding these practices and periodically updating them to reflect evolving circumstances should be a testimony to industry excellence, reflected in their decisionmaking and contracts, and required also of their subcontractors and associated elements of their supply chains. Extensive information sharing among all nuclear stakeholders is central to building trust and enabling nuclear projects to be undertaken responsibly, economically, and sustainably for people and the environment. If these enterprises detect anomalies in the employment of the nuclear technologies that they provide which deviate from responsible peaceful practices, they should alert all appropriate authorities.
5. All stakeholders reaffirm the principle that operators of nuclear facilities bear the primary responsibility for safety and reliable operations and liability for any damage.
6. All states share an interest to uphold international law pertaining to attacks on nuclear facilities, to refrain from posing risks to peaceful nuclear power plants, and to exercise special caution not to endanger nuclear power plants in conflict zones. To that end, states note the IAEA Director General’s seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security and affirm their commitment to treat nuclear power plants and related facilities as militarily untouchable targets, to refrain from undermining their safe operation, to guarantee their safekeeping, and to allow for IAEA monitoring of and reporting on their safety and any safeguards obligations during conflict.
7. Novel uses of nuclear technology and non-proscribed military applications require additional affirmation that they will not constitute a threat to safety, the environment, or international peace and security, including through appropriate adjustments to governance roles and responsibilities. In this context, comprehensive IAEA safeguards agreements as well as other confidence-building measures play a critical role in reassuring the international community about the purpose and sustainable modalities of these novel applications. States or other enterprises seeking to use nuclear technology for such purposes (including in terrestrial, naval, maritime, or space configurations) recognize that they bear additional obligations for safety, security, and nonproliferation.  
8. States with nuclear weapons recognize their special responsibility to maintain a stable nuclear order, including through their commitment to work toward nuclear disarmament and to dissuade nuclear weapons use through measures such as strengthening existing negative security assurances, and through their affirmation that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. 
9. All states commit to robust efforts to secure all nuclear materials and technology and to discourage and prevent the further proliferation of nuclear weapons.  

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for and wish to acknowledge the cooperation and facilitation of the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in New York in developing the PRNC, as well as constructive engagement with the principles by governmental and multilateral bank representatives at a retreat hosted at the Greentree Estate in November 2025. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors.