El Salvador and the United States have finished negotiations on Agreement 123, a civilian nuclear cooperation framework under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, according to El Mundo in Spanish.
The announcement is a significant step for a country that wants to build out a nuclear-energy pathway while still early in the institutional process. The supplied evidence says the agreement would establish cooperation on nuclear technology and equipment for peaceful purposes, and that the two governments have completed the negotiation stage ahead of signature and entry into force. That means the pact is not yet fully active, but it is far enough along to mark a serious bilateral commitment.
Agreement 123 is a familiar instrument in U.S. energy diplomacy. It sets the legal basis for civil nuclear cooperation with partner countries and has been signed with a range of states, including India, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea, according to the source. For El Salvador, concluding the negotiations is an important signal that Washington is willing to support the country’s energy ambitions within the U.S. legal framework.
The packet also says El Salvador wants to become the fourth country in Latin America to have this technology by 2030, after Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. That ambition is ambitious but still aspirational. The country has taken several earlier steps: a cooperation accord with Thorium Energy Alliance in 2023, a Nuclear Energy Law approved in 2024, and a first SEED mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2025.
Taken together, those milestones show that the deal with Washington is part of a longer national strategy, not a sudden announcement. The government appears to be building a regulatory and diplomatic foundation before any concrete construction or operational timetable can be set. The evidence says the law was due to take effect a year after publication, but the government requested an extension until 28 June 2026, which underscores that the domestic framework is still being adjusted.
The source also says El Salvador is exploring sites in San Vicente and Chalatenango for a possible plant. That is an important detail because it shows the project is moving beyond theory and into location planning. Even so, no plant exists yet, and no construction schedule is confirmed in the packet beyond the 2030 ambition.
The statement quoted in the article emphasizes energy security and economic cooperation. That framing is telling. Governments usually talk about nuclear deals in terms of power generation, but they also use them to signal long-term strategic alignment and technical modernization. In El Salvador’s case, the agreement appears designed to support both energy diversification and closer ties with the United States.
Readers should be careful not to overread the announcement. Finalizing negotiations is not the same as final signature, ratification, or building a reactor. It does, however, show that the two governments have agreed on the basic contours of cooperation. That is a meaningful step in any nuclear program.
The story therefore sits at the intersection of energy policy, regional aspiration and diplomatic signaling. El Salvador is trying to join a small group of Latin American countries with nuclear power capability, and the United States is helping define the legal framework for that effort.
