Mongolia denies talks on taking US,Japan nuke waste
(Reuters) - Mongolia has not been in talks about importing nuclear waste from other countries, its embassy in Vienna said, after a report that Japan and the United States planned to build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility there.
The country's 2009 nuclear energy law "does not envisage import of nuclear waste from other countries," said a statement from its embassy in the Austrian capital, where the U.N. nuclear agency is based.
The statement, posted on the embassy's website on Tuesday, came after Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi said Japan and the United States planned to jointly build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Mongolia.
It would serve customers of Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, the May 9 newspaper report said.
A Trade Ministry official in Tokyo said on Monday that Japanese, U.S. and Mongolian officials, at a meeting shortly before Japan's nuclear crisis erupted in March, informally discussed the possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility.
He said there were no concrete plans but the ministry would consider such a project if Mongolia were interested.
Mainichi said such a facility would allow Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, which include joint ventures and units of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba, to better compete with Russian rivals that offer potential customers spent fuel disposal in a package.
"There have not been any talks with foreign organizations or individuals on the issue of accepting nuclear waste of other countries since there are no legal grounds for such talks," said the Mongolian embassy.
It added that Mongolia's legislation regarding its nuclear-weapon-free status "clearly prohibits dumping or disposing of" nuclear waste.
Mongolia plans to have its first nuclear power plant by 2020 and to build nuclear fuel production capacity to tap its rich uranium resources, undeterred by the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power complex after a March 11 earthquake, a senior official at the state-owned MonAtom LLC said in April.
MonAtom represents the Mongolian government in mining and developing the country's uranium resources.
The embassy said several countries had expressed interest to invest in Mongolia in the area of uranium exploitation.
"Mongolia is prepared to work with other countries within the framework of its national legislation and accepted international norms and standards," it said.
"Since this is a very sensitive issue, it will take time to decide on how to make use of these resources," it said.
(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Jason Neely)
The country's 2009 nuclear energy law "does not envisage import of nuclear waste from other countries," said a statement from its embassy in the Austrian capital, where the U.N. nuclear agency is based.
The statement, posted on the embassy's website on Tuesday, came after Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi said Japan and the United States planned to jointly build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Mongolia.
It would serve customers of Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, the May 9 newspaper report said.
A Trade Ministry official in Tokyo said on Monday that Japanese, U.S. and Mongolian officials, at a meeting shortly before Japan's nuclear crisis erupted in March, informally discussed the possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility.
He said there were no concrete plans but the ministry would consider such a project if Mongolia were interested.
Mainichi said such a facility would allow Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, which include joint ventures and units of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba, to better compete with Russian rivals that offer potential customers spent fuel disposal in a package.
"There have not been any talks with foreign organizations or individuals on the issue of accepting nuclear waste of other countries since there are no legal grounds for such talks," said the Mongolian embassy.
It added that Mongolia's legislation regarding its nuclear-weapon-free status "clearly prohibits dumping or disposing of" nuclear waste.
Mongolia plans to have its first nuclear power plant by 2020 and to build nuclear fuel production capacity to tap its rich uranium resources, undeterred by the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power complex after a March 11 earthquake, a senior official at the state-owned MonAtom LLC said in April.
MonAtom represents the Mongolian government in mining and developing the country's uranium resources.
The embassy said several countries had expressed interest to invest in Mongolia in the area of uranium exploitation.
"Mongolia is prepared to work with other countries within the framework of its national legislation and accepted international norms and standards," it said.
"Since this is a very sensitive issue, it will take time to decide on how to make use of these resources," it said.
(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Jason Neely)
Comments
Post a Comment