Nuke power an inevitable option: Kakodkar

Making a strong pitch for international nuclear energy cooperation with India, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar today made it clear that nuclear power was an "inevitable option" and pressed for "reformation" of global thinking on it.

"There is a need for reformation of global thinking that is necessary and consensus on closed fuel cycle has to be reached by those going to participate in the future nuclear renaissance," Kakodkar said.

He was speaking at the scientific forum, an integral part of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) being attended by more than 500 participants.

"The world has to move forward with nuclear power as an inevitable option based purely on partnership on objective, reliable and predictable basis with holistic mutual understanding and trust as a pre-requisite," he said.

Kakodkar's carefully-worded comments come amidst a raging political debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal in India with Left parties and the opposition closely watching his approach at the IAEA.

The Left parties have warned the UPA government of a "political crisis" if it went ahead with operationalising the deal. An India-specific safeguards agreement and changes in guidelines of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group are required to put the deal into force.