The various studies conducted by the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (for example, have recently
shown that, among various Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, CO2
emissions produced from the burning fossil fuels to generate electricity
are considered to be the main culprit behind global warming
and climate change. It is thus believed that turning to low or no
carbon sources of electricity generation – particularly nuclear power
– may help reduce a country’s CO2 emissions even with economic
growth. Accordingly, researchers have recently turned
their attention to examine the independent effect of nuclear power
generation on CO2 emissions, referred to as the growth-nuclearenergy-
CO2 emissions nexus (Table 1). Apergis et al. [10], for example,
analyze the dynamic effect of nuclear energy on CO2 emissions,
after controlling for renewable energy and economic growth; they
find that nuclear energy tends to reduce CO2 emissions. Iwata et al.
[13], on the other hand, find little evidence for a beneficial effect of
nuclear energy on CO2 emissions for a given level of income in a
sample of 11 OECD countries. More recently, Baek and Pride [15]
report that nuclear energy has a significant effect on reduction in
CO2 emissions in six out of the top ten nuclear generating
countries.