Journals / ASSAM Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi / 2026 / Sayı: 29

Beyond Infrastructure: Nuclear Security and Regulatory Alignment in the Balkans (2015–2025)

Altyapının Ötesinde: 2015–2025 Döneminde Balkanlar'da Nükleer Güvenlik ve Düzenleyici Uyum

Bahar Akın(Viyana Üniversitesi)
Pages
193–210
Publication Date
2026-09-21
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Its approach is informed by direct regulatory and operational experience, yet it remains oriented toward internal institutional consolidation rather than outward power projection.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:This article explores how nuclear security has acquired a distinct and increasingly regulatory character in the Balkans between 2015 and 2025.
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Key Findings & Data:Rather than being driven by military competition or strategic rivalry, nuclear security in the region has evolved primarily through institutional coordination, regulatory preparedness, and sustained engagement with international norms.
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Conclusion & Impact:Its approach is informed by direct regulatory and operational experience, yet it remains oriented toward internal institutional consolidation rather than outward power projection.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2015 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Balkans · Non military security · regolatory cooperation

Abstract

This article explores how nuclear security has acquired a distinct and increasingly regulatory character in the Balkans between 2015 and 2025. Rather than being driven by military competition or strategic rivalry, nuclear security in the region has evolved primarily through institutional coordination, regulatory preparedness, and sustained engagement with international norms. While much of the existing literature approaches the Balkans through the perspective of energy geopolitics and infrastructure-centered security concerns, this study draws attention to a quieter but consequential transformation taking place in the regulatory domain. Focusing on Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, the article demonstrates that nuclear security follows different national trajectories shaped by uneven nuclear infrastructure and varying institutional capacities. Bulgaria and Romania reflect continuity-oriented approaches grounded in the oversight of operating nuclear facilities, whereas Serbia engages with nuclear security in a precautionary and forward-looking manner despite the absence of nuclear power infrastructure. Türkiye occupies a distinct position within this regional landscape. Its approach is informed by direct regulatory and operational experience, yet it remains oriented toward internal institutional consolidation rather than outward power projection.

Özet

Bu makale, 2015–2025 döneminde Balkanlar’da nükleer güvenliğin giderek düzenleyici ve normatif bir nitelik kazandığını incelemektedir. Bölgedeki nükleer güvenlik, askerî rekabet ya da stratejik çatışmadan ziyade kurumsal eşgüdüm, düzenleyici hazırlık ve uluslararası normlarla sürdürülen etkileşim üzerinden şekillenmiştir. Balkanlar literatürünün büyük ölçüde enerji jeopolitiği ve altyapı temelli güvenlik tartışmalarına odaklandığı bir bağlamda, bu çalışma nükleer güvenliğin daha az görünür ancak etkili bir dönüşümünü düzenleyici alan üzerinden ele almaktadır. Bulgaristan, Romanya ve Sırbistan örneklerine odaklanan analiz, nükleer güvenliğin nükleer altyapının eşitsiz dağılımı ve kurumsal kapasite farklılıkları doğrultusunda farklı ulusal yönelimler izlediğini göstermektedir. Bulgaristan ve Romanya, faal nükleer tesislerin denetimine dayalı süreklilikçi yaklaşımları temsil ederken, Sırbistan nükleer enerji altyapısının bulunmadığı bir bağlamda nükleer güvenliği daha temkinli ve öngörüye dayalı bir çerçevede ele almaktadır. Türkiye ise bu bölgesel görünüm içinde ayrı bir konumda yer almaktadır. Türkiye’nin yaklaşımı doğrudan düzenleyici ve uygulamaya dönük deneyimle şekillenmiş olmakla birlikte, bu deneyim bölgesel güç projeksiyonundan ziyade iç kurumsal kapasitenin güçlendirilmesine yöneliktir.

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Cite This Article

Akın, B. (2026). Beyond Infrastructure: Nuclear Security and Regulatory Alignment in the Balkans (2015–2025). ASSAM Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi, Sayı: 29, 193–210. https://doi.org/10.58724/assam.1990896

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