Nuclear law: Scientometric study of the scientific literature indexed by the Scopus database between 1970 and 2023 using VOSviewer

Abstract

Nuclear law refers to the legal framework that governs the development, regulation, and use of nuclear energy and technology. The gap that this study seeks to fill concerns the use of the scientometric method, based on an information structure found in indexed scientific studies on the evolution of the theme of nuclear law. The present study aimed to map out the themes of scientific production between 1970 and the first semester of 2023. Data were collected from research activities indexed by the SCOPUS database and analyzed with the aid of the scientometric VOSviewer software. Considering the limitations of this study, the main scientometric results related to the theme of nuclear law are the following: the United Kingdom and the United States of America present the greatest collaboration in co-authorship between countries; the subject has a broader scope in the field of social science and no significant impact or frequency of Brazilian publications or authors was identified. It was concluded that nuclear law, in line with legal and ethical principles, can contribute to the wellbeing of humanity and the preservation of the environment.