File photo: The US flag and Mexico's flag are pictured on the international border bridge Paso del Norte in between El Paso, US and Ciudad Juarez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 28 December 2016;
Credit: Reuters / Jose Luis Gonzalez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A bilateral agreement on nuclear energy between the United States (US) and Mexico entered into force, the US State Department said on Wednesday 2 November 2022, adding that it will enhance cooperation on energy security.
The agreement is the "first bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation" between the two countries, the department said in a statement.
Known as 123 agreements, such accords pave the way for delicate issues such as the peaceful transfer of nuclear material, equipment and information from the US in adherence with nonproliferation requirements.
"This agreement will further strengthen the US-Mexico relationship and deepen our cooperation on energy security", State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Twitter.
Mexico and the US signed the agreement in 2018, but Mexico's Senate did not give its approval until March 2022.
The Mexican state power utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad, has one nuclear plant operating two reactors. Energy Minister Rocio Nahle has described nuclear energy as "clean, safe, constant 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.
Earlier talks of cooperation in the energy sector have centred on dramatically cutting natural gas flaring and methane emissions by state oil company Pemex.
