Governing Cross-Border Nuclear Partnerships: A Q-NPT Framework Analysis of the Egypt–Russia El Dabaa Nuclear Power Project

Large-scale nuclear energy projects depend on credible governance arrangements to support international cooperation and address institutional and societal concerns surrounding nuclear energy development. This study applies the Qudrat-Ullah Nuclear Peace and Trust (Q-NPT) framework to examine the governance of the Egypt–Russia El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (ERENPP). The framework comprises four pillars—Trust, Equity, Transparency, and Inclusion—with institutional alignment treated as a cross-cutting dimension. Using a qualitative single-case study design and deductive content analysis, the study examines documentary evidence from intergovernmental agreements, financing arrangements, regulatory and international review documents, official project statements, media reports, civil-society publications, and relevant academic literature. The analysis distinguishes formal commitments and reported activities from implementation, stakeholder perceptions, and demonstrated outcomes. The findings identify formal bilateral and institutional arrangements relevant to trust and coordination, alongside governance questions concerning the disclosure of project information, the distribution of costs and benefits, and the scope and influence of stakeholder participation. Although documented consultation activities and regulatory milestones provide evidence of governance processes, they do not independently establish public confidence, equitable outcomes, or the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement. The study demonstrates how Q-NPT can structure documentary evidence across the four pillars, identify cross-pillar relationships, and make evidence gaps explicit without assigning an unsupported overall governance rating or inferring causal effects. It contributes a context-sensitive application of Q-NPT to cross-border nuclear energy governance and identifies priorities for further assessment, including accessible information disclosure, meaningful stakeholder engagement, institutional coordination, and transparent evaluation of project costs and benefits. The framework offers a complementary analytical approach for examining governance in nuclear energy partnerships and informing comparative research on energy-system development.