G.Bayarbayasgalan,
Director of Nuclear Material Department at the Nuclear Energy Agency, answers
questions on the court cases about the Khan Resources licenses.

The court has ruled in
favor of Khan Resources. Does this mean the company will get its license back and
resume operation in Dornod? Does the court decision mean that the licenses had
been canceled without legal reasons?

The
media reports have been wrong. The court merely said the NEA director’s
authority extends to re-registering or refusing to re-register a license, and
it has no power to cancel a license. The court did not say anything about the
validity of the license.

What specific violations
were committed by Khan Resources?

We
in the NEA studied the company’s applications to reregister licenses in the
name of Khan Resources and Central Asian Uranium, of which it owns 58 percent,
and found flaws in them, and decided not to allow re-registration. The State
Inspection Authority had inspected companies holding uranium exploration
licenses and reported on July 10, 2009 that it would be right to cancel the two
companies’ licenses because they had violated several laws. Central Asian
Uranium did not have their mineral reserve registered and did not submit their
work report to the Mineral Council. The company also sold its shares in the international
market in a way that violates the Mineral Law and Law of Land. So license No.
237A was canceled even before the issue had reached us. After the law of
nuclear energy was approved, all issues related to uranium exploration and mining
became our responsibility. Our agency asked companies to rectify their defects
but some still have not done so. We believe we were right not to reregister the
licenses.

Is it true that the
company will sue Mongolia at the international court?

Our
agency cooperates with several humanitarian organizations. If this company attacks
our country, we will take counter measures through human rightsi organizations.

When shall we have our nuclear
power plant?

Nuclear
energy must be used in Mongolia because there will be less air pollution and will
generate more electricity. Uranium usage policy, and establishment of nuclear
power plant must be settled together. The Millennium Development Challenge says
Mongolia will start using nuclear energy by 2021. We are working according to
his. Of course, Mongolia will follow all the regulations and procedures
indicated by International Atomic Energy Agency.