El Salvador: Nuclear Reactor by 2030
Reference image from archive. Cofrentes nuclear power plant in Valencia, Spain. Photo: EFE/Kai Försterling
October 11, 2024 Hour: 2:37 pm
‘We want to have the first research reactor by 2030, we want to train 400 specialists in a period of seven years,’ said Álvarez.
On Friday, authorities in El Salvador announced that they are working to have their first nuclear reactor ready by 2030, according to media reports.
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The Directorate General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines (Dgehm) announced the day before that the government’s goal is to have its first nuclear reactor within the next seven years, according to a report in the newspaper El Mundo.
At a forum organized by the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade), the director of Dgehm, Daniel Álvarez, said the plan also includes the training of dozens of specialists in the field of nuclear energy.
‘We want to have the first research reactor by 2030, we want to train 400 specialists in a period of seven years,’ said Álvarez.
In March 2023, the directorate signed a cooperation agreement with Thorium Energy Alliance to explore nuclear power generation with thorium fuel, he added.
International agencies estimate that one tone of thorium can produce as much energy as 200 tons of uranium, or three million 500 thousand tons of coal.
Last March, Álvarez and Deputy Foreign Minister Adriana Mira presented the legal instruments for nuclear energy generation to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
According to the authorities, in their most recent action, Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and El Salvador signed a cooperation agreement for the former, one of the few countries with nuclear reactors in Latin America, to support El Salvador ‘in its first steps’.
Recently, the Minister of Economy, María Luisa Hayem, presented a draft Nuclear Energy Law to the Legislative Assembly, which would empower the Dgehm to grant, suspend or revoke licenses related to the design, construction or operation of nuclear or radioactive facilities.
The bill proposes the creation of the Directorate of Nuclear Energy Regulation and the Directorate of Nuclear Energy Control and Supervision, which would be under the Directorate General of Energy.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: The Star, The Independent