US/Japan nuke industry plan to make Mongolia a nuclear waste dump quashed by public

Mongolia abandons nuclear waste storage plans, informs Japan of decision

PARIS -- The Mongolian government told Japan government officials and others concerned in late September that it had decided to abandon its plans to cooperate with Tokyo and Washington and build facilities to temporarily store and dispose of nuclear waste, it was learned on Oct. 14.

Mongolia appears to have judged the plan unfeasible because of opposition movements in the country.

It is the latest turn of events that underscores the difficulties in carrying out international projects to build nuclear waste storage facilities. A similar project was also abandoned in Australia in 2002 due to strong public backlash.

Negotiations on the Mongolian nuclear projects started when U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman visited Mongolia in September, 2010. Officials of Japan, the United States and Mongolia held their first round of talks on the projects in Washington in February this year. Then, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which wants to procure nuclear fuel from Mongolia, joined in the negotiations. In early July, Poneman sent a draft of an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding (MOU) to then-Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda in an effort to secure a deal by the end of this year.

The Mainichi reported on the secret talks between the three countries ...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111015p2a00m0na023000c.html

It's amazing how they were trying to slip this under rug.

It is certainly undemocratic, but it isn't surprising in the least.