Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Disarmament Database

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Country Profile: Mexico (Observer)

BASIC FACTS

Mexico is anObserver Country of the NAM Movement

Officially the United Mexican States, Mexicois a federal presidential republicsituated in North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Pacific Ocean. .

Capital: Mexico City

Mexico operates two boiling water nuclear reactors (BWRs), the LAGUNA VERDE-1 and the LAGUNA VERDE-2 at its Laguna Verde nuclear power plant site which, according to the IAEA, has generated close to 5% of the country’s total net electricity in 2020.  

Mexico’s nuclear energy interests originated in the 1960s. Following an investigation on potential sites for nuclear power, the country’s National Commission for Nuclear Energy (CNEN) initiated construction of the LVNPP, comprising two reactors of 654 MW(e) each.4 In 2010, the reactors were updated to 805 MW(e) for the first unit and to 803 MW(e) for the second unit.  

The LVNPP nuclear site has taken recent action to enhance the safety and security of both reactors following the Fukushima accidents and in accordance with orders issued by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Further in accordance with international protocols, the LVNPP has undergone a risk assessment of all damage-related risks that the power plant can withstand, such as earthquakes, flooding, terrorist attacks, or aircraft collisions. 

Mexico has signed, ratified, and enforced the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in September of 2017, January of 2018, and January of 2021, respectively.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS 

  • IAEA Membership (1958)

  • Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) (1969)

  • Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (1969)

  • Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) (1996)

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) (2021) 


AGREEMENTS (In force) 

  • Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the IAEA (1983)  

  • Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (1989)  

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (1988)  

  • Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2016)  

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1988) 


REGIONAL GROUPS

  • Member of G-21
  • Member of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) Group
  • Founding Member of the Organization of American States (OAS)
  • Founding Member of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL)
  • Founding Member of the Organization of Iber-American States
  • Member of the Latin-American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)


RECENT REPRESENTATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

  • Chair of the 1540 Committee in 2010
  • Vice-Chair of the 1540 Committee in 2009
  • Rapporteur of the UN First Committee in 2010
  • Non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2002/2003 and 2009/2010

 

LINKS

Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations

Mexico Ministry of Foreign Affairs

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Memberships in International Organizations Related to Disarmament