El Salvador, which is embarking on a nuclear energy programme, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by the President of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Germán Guido Lavalle, and the Director of the Agency for the Implementation of the Nuclear Energy Program (OIPEN) of El Salvador, Daniel Alejandro Álvarez.

Guido Lavalle said: “This is undoubtedly a great step in the development of nuclear energy for El Salvador, and we at CNEA are proud to be able to accompany and assist in this very important initial stage, which will undoubtedly bring concrete benefits to Salvadoran society. Our long tradition of training human resources in the Latin American region, through our academic institutes, will be made available once again within the framework of an inter-institutional understanding, with great impact to generate local capacities and strengthen the applications of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.”

The agreement which was among a number of bilateral ones coinciding with the visit to Argentina by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, includes promoting the exchange of information, scientific and technical visits, expert missions and training opportunities. The country’s president announced in March the ambition to adopt nuclear energy.

At last month’s IAEA General Conference in Vienna, Alvarez set out El Salvador’s ambition to “diversify our energy matrix under three premises: Rely less on external resources, take care of the environment and, last but not least, transform the lives of our people, with affordable energy that allows them to fulfil their goals and dreams … with the commitment to incorporate nuclear energy into our energy matrix, complying with the highest international standards and in accordance with the treaties that El Salvador has ratified before the International Atomic Energy Agency”.

“Our country,” he added, “through the peaceful use of nuclear energy, aims to promote and encourage the economic and scientific development of our population, allowing us to guarantee a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity; in addition to achieving, through the implementation of public policies, tangible benefits in areas such as: agriculture, health, industry, environment, among others.”

Argentina has a long nuclear energy history. It has three operable reactors - the first of which began operating in 1974 - and one small modular reactor under construction. It has a number of research reactors and the RA-10 multipurpose reactor, a 30 MWt open pool type reactor, is currently under construction.