Mexico City, Nov. 3 (BNA): A bilateral agreement on nuclear energy between the United States and Mexico has entered into force, the US State Department said Wednesday, adding that it will enhance cooperation in the field of energy security.
The ministry said in a statement that the agreement is the “first bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation” between the two countries.
These agreements, known as 123 agreements, pave the way for sensitive issues such as the peaceful transfer of nuclear materials, equipment and information from the United States in compliance with nonproliferation requirements.
“This agreement will strengthen the US-Mexico relationship and deepen our cooperation on energy security,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Twitter.
Mexico and the United States signed the agreement in 2018, but the Mexican Senate did not give its approval until March.
Mexico’s state power utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad, has one nuclear plant that operates two reactors. Energy Minister Rossio Nahle described nuclear power as “clean, safe, stable and profitable.”
White House climate envoy John Kerry traveled to Mexico last week to discuss renewable energy with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, focusing on lithium, batteries and the auto industry.
Previous talks on cooperation in the energy sector have focused on a significant reduction in natural gas flaring and methane emissions by state oil company Pemex.
MI