"Department of Energy officials have spent weeks trying to knock down reports that they have been interested in building a nuclear waste repository in Mongolia.

Now, the Obama administration is going a step further, disclosing that what DOE hopes to do is 'lease' uranium from other countries, then return the spent fuel to the originating country.

A senior Obama administration official told Greenwire earlier this month that the government is in preliminary talks with several countries, including Mongolia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, about setting up commercial nuclear fuel leasing arrangements."

Hannah Northey Reports for Greenwire August 23, 2011. [2]