The United States Embassy in El Salvador has expressed its satisfaction with the country’s growing interest in exploring nuclear energy as a means to diversify its energy portfolio. In a statement shared on social media, the embassy remarked that the U.S. is “pleased with El Salvador’s interest in exploring the applications of nuclear energy for electricity production, in line with international standards, to expand the country’s energy options.”
This announcement came as the U.S. Embassy shared a post from Bonnie D. Jenkins, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, who met with Daniel Álvarez, Director of Energy, Hydrocarbons, and Mines for El Salvador, in Vienna. The meeting took place during the 68th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where both representatives discussed El Salvador’s nuclear energy goals.
Earlier this week, El Salvador presented its nuclear energy plan to the IAEA during the event, reaffirming its commitment to incorporating nuclear power into the country’s energy matrix. This follows El Salvador’s submission of legal frameworks to support nuclear energy development in March of this year, after which President Nayib Bukele declared, “El Salvador goes nuclear.”
In June, the Salvadoran Congress passed a decree establishing the Organism for the Implementation of the Nuclear Energy Program in El Salvador (OIPEN). Daniel Álvarez, who also chairs the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL), highlighted that nuclear energy could eventually supply 26% of the country’s electricity needs.