Political-legal mechanism of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy within the BRICS framework

The subject of the research is the processes of institutionalizing cooperation in the field of nuclear energy within the framework of BRICS as one of the factors ensuring energy security. The aim of the study is to reveal the mechanism of interaction among BRICS countries in this sphere at the multilateral level. In this regard, the study examined the "BRICS approach" to the role of nuclear energy in the structure of the modern energy transition. The authors focus on the characterization of nuclear energy in BRICS as an objective prerequisite for the intensification and institutionalization of transregional cooperation. Special attention was given to revealing the political and legal guidelines as the strategic basis of the emerging cooperation mechanism, reflected in the official documents of BRICS leader summits and statements by energy ministers. A special place was occupied by the study of the nature, directions, and order of functioning of the BRICS Nuclear Energy Platform. The methodological framework of the research includes the following methods and approaches: factor analysis methodology, systemic and historical approaches, principle of development, and comparative method. The main conclusion of the research is the assertion that the organizational level of the cooperation mechanism in the field of nuclear energy in BRICS, complementing the level of political and legal strategic planning, is based on a platform model, implemented in the form of a consortium of all interested actors belonging to different segments of the "nuclear communities." The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it presents a comprehensive analysis of the political and legal mechanism for cooperation within BRICS in the field of nuclear energy for the first time in domestic and foreign scientific literature. It was established that actors from both participant countries and partner countries of BRICS are involved in the work of the Nuclear Energy Platform, which is a sign of its openness to companies from other countries as well as to international organizations. At the same time, it was revealed that a distinguishing feature of the functioning mechanism of cooperation in nuclear energy within BRICS is the insufficient alignment of political and legal documents with specific initiatives for the institutional stabilization of the Nuclear Platform.