INTERVIEW-Mongolia eyes its own nuclear power plant

* New agency set up recently to deal with nuclear power

* Hopes to tap country's uranium deposits

ULAN BATOR, May 26 - Mongolia is hoping to eventually build its own nuclear power plant and has already begun a feasibility study on the project, the head of the country's new Nuclear Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

The plans are part of the landlocked country's efforts to leverage its vast mineral wealth, which include significant deposits of uranium, to bring its nearly 3 million people out of poverty.

It is not yet clear when the feasibility study will be completed, but the latest it ought to be ready is 2015, the target set under the government's national development plan, S. Enkhbat, director general of the agency, told Reuters.

"I hope that we will finish much earlier, because we are in a hurry," Enkhbat said in fluent English from his new office in central Ulan Bator.

The agency, with a staff of just under 50, was set up at the end of last year.

The government is talking with a number of potential partners, but it is not yet clear what kind of reactor would be best suited to the country's extreme temperatures and lack of water resources, he said.

As part of an overall push for making use of its uranium resources, Mongolia is now drafting a nuclear law that would cover nuclear power, security and transport, Enkhbat said.

It is also hoping to start tapping its uranium deposits. The country has roughly 60,000 tonnes in proven reserves and potentially much more, Enkhbat said.

"This is a very new stage, it is a new level for Mongolia, but we are at the very beginning," he said.

Mongolian Prime Minister Sanj Bayar earlier this month proposed a joint venture with Russia to develop uranium deposits.

The two sides also signed an agreement for Russia to train Mongolian technicians in dealing with uranium, Enkhbat said, adding that Mongolia also hoped to start discussions with China on uranium sometime this year.

Enkhbat acknowledged his agency would have to study how much power demand Mongolia will actually have by the time any nuclear plant comes online, but he said one possibility would be selling some power to neighbours China and Russia.