Assessing the Risks to Nuclear Safety: Case Study of Institutional Transformation and Governance Challenges in Indonesia’s Research Agency Reform

This study explores the restructuring of Indonesia’s National Nuclear Energy Agency into the National Research and Innovation Agency, merging it with non-nuclear bodies. Using surveys, interviews, and field surveys, the research finds weakened nuclear sector leadership, poor safety protocol enforcement, and institutional conflicts that compromise nuclear safety. The integration risks diluting specialized expertise in favor of broad innovation agendas. The Indonesian case highlights the dangers of bureaucratic consolidation in high-risk organization. The study offers policy recommendations to strengthen nuclear safety governance through better institutional design, leadership accountability, and safety-oriented organizational culture in public high-risk research institutions.