The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, signed together with the Salvadoran Chancellor Alexandra Hill a cooperation memorandum between the first world power and the Central American nation to boost nuclear energy. What scope does the agreement have and how would it apply?
The heads of the diplomacy of the United States and El Salvador, Marco Rubio and Alexandra Hill, respectively, signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation (NCMOU) on Monday.
The State Department reported that this agreement is intended to promote cooperation in nuclear energy for civil use between the two countries.
Why does the United States give a green light to a nuclear cooperation project with El Salvador?
According to the State Department, the long -standing diplomatic relationship with El Salvador allows to expand cooperation horizons and this NCMOU “represents an initial step towards establishing a solid civil nuclear association” between the two countries with a view to “improving energy safety ”From the Central American country and to promote prosperity in the region.
The United States says that this type of diplomatic agreements began during President Donald Trump's first command, and that “they feel the foundations for expanding strategic ties between the US and its partners” thus making the United States safer. “
How does El Salvador achieve this agreement?
The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, of a official majority, approved in October 2024 the Nuclear Energy Law to explore the possibilities of ethomic energy development for peaceful purposes, such as electric power generation and research with a view to “a sustainable electricity supply”
This legislation would have allowed the US approval to cooperate in this matter, which the Savior sees it as an option to reduce hydrocarbon dependence to feed the thermoelectric plants.
That country has seven thermal energy plants that work with oil, but also four hydroelectric plants and two geothermal generation. This last sector presents great possibilities of exploitation such as green energy thanks to numerous thermal fields throughout the country located in a volcanic area.
The Nuclear Energy Law was approved with 57 votes in favor and three against, with the opponents warning of the “catastrophic risks” that entails nuclear exploitation.
El Salvador projects to become the first Central American country to bet on this type of technology and it is planned to begin to generate electricity within seven years, said the president of the General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines, Daniel Álvarez , when the legislation was approved.
What supervises the UN International Atomic Energy Agency?
According to the United Nations Organization, its International Atomic Energy Agency (OIAE) Work with the Member States To supervise the peaceful and safe use of nuclear technologies, the UN says that it was born to the fears that aroused this invention with nuclear weapons, although civilian use entails other purposes.
The OIEA says that agreement signed in 1957 manages international cooperation in nuclear matters, as well as the supervision of this technology with experts and under an “international agreement”, to maintain strict security standards.
The OIEA count indicates that up to 2023 about 32 countries generated electricity through 413 Nuclear reactors and by then 58 nuclear centrals were under construction.
What does the savior of the agreement expect?
The presidential house of El Salvador reported on Tuesday in a statement that the agreement signed with the US allows mutual “cooperation” to develop nuclear energy and that the alliance will be focused on the “implementation of energy solutions that contribute to the energy security of El Salvador ”
The agreement with the United States will facilitate the “development of nuclear infrastructure, the strengthening of regulatory and scientific capacities”, plus the promotion of joint projects.
He also clarified that the agreement “does not create legal obligations” to the parties and that all activity will be governed by “national laws.” The Salvadoran government also says that both countries will maintain a periodic review of the agreement for their “duration.”
Where would the staff prepare and how much is needed to install a nuclear reactor?
El Salvador plans to train up to about 400 nuclear energy specialists by 2030 with the support of the Argentine Atomic Energy Agency, according to international media.
Mounting a plantar with a nuclear reactor costs between 4,000 and 5,000 million dollars and the construction time is estimated at about 10 years.
What Latin American countries have nuclear energy programs?
In the region “Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela have research reactors, Mexico and Uruguay are building them, while Chile and Peru have projects under study,” says the OIAE.
According to the agency, to the Argentine date, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay have already concluded agreements that “accept the organization's safeguard application to its reactors”, and that in their list it tells that other countries in the region are evaluating their future ” Nucleoelectric energy needs ”.
The OIAE also believes that in Latin America, nuclear energy exploration initiatives are framed in “peaceful uses, having achieved notable progress with the proposals for the conclusion of a treaty by which the entire region would be converted into a militarily denuclearized area” .
OIAE says that in Latin America there are interest in exploring The possibilities offered by nuclear energy, which has “motivated considerable activity.”
What is nuclear energy and how does a central work?
Electric power produced by nuclear reactors is produced by fission or fusion of atoms. In a central one reactor controls the chain equipment that in general they feed with enriched uranium bars to produce heat by fission; Heat increases the coolant temperature, which is usually water to generate steam that nine turbines that start the electric generator that produces electricity.
What countries have chosen to get away from nuclear energy?
Germany that depended in 60 years almost entirely of nuclear energy, closed its last three atomic plants in April 2023, after Fukushima's nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 and social pressure forced Angela Merkel to boost A gradual plan to disconnect reactors.
The movement against nuclear energy has also persisted in France and other countries. Spain and even the United States have proceeded to close nuclear fusion plants.
Both Germany and Spain have opted for the green energy that it demands to install in wind turbine fields and mountains to produce energy.
Ecological organizations and even the same United Nations OIAE consider that the risks of nuclear waste do not disappear with extinguishing reactors, as waste must be preserved under surveillance to avoid radio leak accidents for hundreds of years.