The IAEA hosted a meeting with representatives from the Government of El Salvador on 21 and 22 March 2024 to assist the country in developing its draft nuclear law. Held at IAEA Headquarters, the meeting was organized by the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and was attended by eight officials from the Directorate General of Energy, Hydrocarbons, and Mines, the Permanent Mission of El Salvador to the IAEA, and other government entities.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss observations prepared by IAEA experts on El Salvador's draft law for the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear energy. The meeting also focused on the terminology of nuclear law, key elements of comprehensive national nuclear legislation, and El Salvador's international obligations as a party to the treaties adopted under IAEA auspices.
During the two-day meeting, the Director General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines, Daniel Álvarez, emphasized the importance of the draft law for El Salvador's future. He stated that "El Salvador will go nuclear because we have a firm commitment to energy transition, environmental protection, and the economic development of our citizens. We are taking a historic step, one which we had to take over the last 40 years".
The Head of the OLA's Nuclear and Treaty Law Section, Anthony Wetherall, highlighted the significant process that El Salvador has made in developing its draft law. "We are pleased to see the efforts made by the Government of El Salvador to strengthen the national nuclear legal framework and join the relevant international legal instruments. We stand ready to provide further assistance, upon request."
This meeting on El Salvador's draft law, implemented in the framework of the IAEA Legislative Assistance Programme, is one of many activities conducted under the Technical Cooperation Programme to support Member States in establishing and enhancing their national legal frameworks. El Salvador received legislative assistance through a national workshop and awareness mission conducted in February 2023, and representatives from El Salvador conducted a scientific visit to IAEA Headquarters in 2018, as well as participated in the last annual session of the Nuclear Law Institute.
In the course of the two-day visit to the IAEA, El Salvador also deposited instruments of acceptance and accession at a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on 22 March 2024. El Salvador deposited an instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the IAEA and instruments of accession to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.
Officials from key Salvadoran government departments attend the meeting with the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs on 21-22 March 2024 at IAEA headquarters. (Photo: A. Troubat/IAEA)
