IAEA concludes six-day SEED mission to El Salvador

An IAEA team of experts has concluded a six-day Site and External Events Design (SEED) mission to El Salvador, which is evaluating two candidate sites for building its first nuclear power plant. Designed to help IAEA Member States in the development of their nuclear power program, the SEED safety review service focuses on site selection and assessment, and the design of structures, systems, and components against site external hazards. The mission to El Salvador verified the country’s adherence to IAEA guidance on the site selection process and was carried out at the request of the El Salvador government. The mission team consisted of three experts from Japan, the UK, and the USA, as well as two IAEA staff members. They visited the candidate sites in Chalatenango and San Vicente, reviewing the site selection report, the siting process, and the data collection process for siting activities. They also held a SEED Capacity Building Workshop to support site evaluation, discussing the future progress of the site evaluation process with external experts and participants.
At the end of the mission, the team provided recommendations to optimize the site selection process, minimizing potential risks like seismic or flooding hazards that could make the selected site unsuitable for hosting the plant. IAEA experts also noted that it is important to balance site characteristics with specific design features, site protection measures, and administrative procedures from the early stages of the site selection process.