Source: The Wall Street Journal, News.mn, Reuters                 Date: 11 May, 2011

The U.S. and Japan confirmed Monday that they have held discussions with Mongolia about nuclear waste management, but both denied that they have any plans to send their spent nuclear fuel there. The Chief of the Nuclear Energy Authority (NEA), Mr. D.Enkhbat, has, however, denied reports on any talks on the matter. “The NEA has not talked to anyone,” he asserted, adding, “Who wants to keep others’ waste, especially nuclear waste?”

On Monday Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported that the U.S., Japan and Mongolia were set to sign an agreement over the project in February, but put it off after objections from Japan's Foreign Ministry. The newspaper said it would be easier for the U.S. and Japan to sell their nuclear-reactor technology overseas if they could offer countries a place to put their nuclear waste.

A U.S. Department of Energy spokeswoman said, "The U.S. government is not negotiating a deal to send spent nuclear fuel to Mongolia." She added, "No discussions or potential fuel leasing services involve U.S.-origin spent nuclear fuel." Asked whether Japan was talking with Mongolia about nuclear-fuel storage, Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Chiaki Takahashi, said at a news conference Monday that the countries had held an "informal exchange of views" about the subject. He said the talks did not reach a conclusion and Japan does not intend to send its spent nuclear fuel to Mongolia.

The U.S. and Mongolia signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear power in September 2010, when Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman visited Ulaanbaatar. A U.S. official said that accord included "waste management" but did not give details. A U.S. State Department official in charge of nuclear issues, Mr. Richard Stratford, said March 29 that the U.S. Department of Energy was talking to Mongolia about storing other countries' spent fuel, including possibly fuel that originated in the U.S.

In April, the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar said Mr. Stratford's comments "may have been misinterpreted" and it is "not correct" that the U.S. was talking to Mongolia "about the establishment of a storage facility to accept foreign spent nuclear fuel."

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The report in the Mainichi daily said Japanese, U.S. and Mongolian officials, at a meeting shortly before Japan's March 11 earthquake, informally discussed possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility for countries with nuclear power plants but no spent fuel storage capability of their own. The 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 nuclear plant customers spent fuel disposal in a package.