El Salvador became the first Central American nation this month to undergo an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, marking a major step in the country’s early push toward nuclear power.
The mission, carried out from May 11 to 18 at the invitation of the Salvadoran government, reviewed whether the country has built enough institutional and technical groundwork to make an informed commitment to nuclear energy. The finding from the IAEA team was clear: El Salvador has made notable progress.
The review was hosted by El Salvador’s Organization for the Implementation of the Nuclear Energy Program, known as OIPEN. The country was evaluated under Phase 1 criteria of the IAEA’s Milestones Approach, a framework that guides countries through three stages: considering nuclear power, preparing for it and eventually constructing a program. Completing Phase 1 indicates that a country is ready to make a knowledgeable commitment to a nuclear power program.
The groundwork has been years in the making. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed a Nuclear Energy Law in October 2024 by a 57-to-3 vote, with officials citing the need to reduce dependence on imported oil, which once consumed a significant share of the country’s energy budget.
OIPEN was then created to lead site studies, regulatory development and national planning. Two candidate sites have already been identified as meeting initial safety and technical feasibility criteria: one in Chalatenango, about 40 kilometers northeast of San Salvador, and another in San Vicente, about 70 kilometers east of the capital.
El Salvador has also moved quickly on the international front. In March 2026, the country signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States, known as a 123 Agreement under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act. The agreement is required before the United States can license major exports of nuclear material and equipment to a partner country.
That made El Salvador the first and only Central American country to join that group. The country has also signed cooperation agreements with Argentina’s atomic energy agency and has worked with the IAEA on technical support.
El Salvador’s energy planners view nuclear power as a complement to an already diversified electricity mix, with about 69% of current generation coming from renewable sources. With electricity demand projected to potentially double by 2050, small modular reactors have emerged as the country’s most likely path. Officials are targeting nuclear power to provide about 15% of total electricity generation by mid-century.
Costa Rica now finds itself watching a regional neighbor move into an energy debate it has largely avoided. Our country is in a similar position in some ways, but very different in others. Around 98% of Costa Rica’s electricity already comes from renewable sources, and since 1942 the country’s energy policy has aimed for 100% clean generation. That environmental identity remains a point of national pride.
But it also presents a challenge. As Costa Rica electrifies transportation and industry, electricity demand will continue to grow. Renewable energy alone may not always fill the gap reliably, especially as climate variability places more pressure on hydropower output.
Costa Rica would not be starting from zero if it ever chose to explore nuclear power. The country has been an IAEA member state since 1965 and signed a new Country Programme Framework with the agency in December 2025, covering the period from 2025 to 2030. That agreement identifies nuclear safety and radiation applications as priority cooperation areas, but it stops well short of any commitment to nuclear power generation.
If Costa Rica were to follow El Salvador’s path, the first step would likely be requesting an INIR Phase 1 mission from the IAEA. That review would be non-binding, but it would help the country understand the legal, technical, regulatory and institutional gaps it would need to address before seriously pursuing nuclear energy.
From there, Costa Rica would need enabling legislation, a dedicated implementation body similar to OIPEN and a formal site evaluation process.
A 123 Agreement with the United States would also be a major step. Such an agreement could open access to U.S. nuclear technology and small modular reactor designs at a time when that market is expanding. There are currently 127 distinct SMR technologies under development globally, offering smaller countries a more flexible entry point than the large reactors that dominated earlier generations of nuclear power.
For now, Costa Rica has made no public move toward nuclear energy. The new government has expressed interest in changing course on the country’s current ban on gold and hydrocarbon mining, but as of now it has not raised nuclear power as part of its energy agenda.
El Salvador’s experiment could change the regional conversation. If its nuclear program advances safely, affordably and with public support, Costa Rica may eventually face a question it has long been able to avoid: whether a country built on renewable energy should also consider nuclear power as part of its long-term clean energy strategy.
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