The governments of Japan and the United States are considering a joint plan to construct an underground storage facility for nuclear wastes in Mongolia. Mongolia, according to the reports,will benefit from the technological support of the nuclear industries of Tokyo and Washington.
The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and Agence France Presse said that the nuclear waste storage has not been fully disclosed because it could draw attention and stiff opposition from Mongolia's neighbours China and Russia. Negotiations have begun in September 2010 with the visit of US deputy secretary energy Daniel Poneman.
Quoting unnamed negotiators from the three governments, Japan and the US still hoped to promote nuclear power usage and safety, the reports indicated.
China's Commitment
Meantime, China has vowed to improve emergency procedures and construction standards at its nuclear power plants, state media said on Monday, two months after an earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered an atomic crisis.
"We have to raise our standards to deal with complicated situations, like what happened in Japan," Liu Hua, a nuclear safety official at the environmental protection ministry, was quoted as saying in the China Daily. "The lesson of Fukushima is that we need to improve emergency procedures, especially coordination among government departments."
Authorities are also considering installing power generators inside nuclear plants and setting higher standards for flood control measures and for the construction of exterior walls of reactors, Mr Liu said.
Source: OfficialWire
