Pachauri says not clinching nuclear deal a mistake

Extending the support of the environmentalists to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which is in a limbo because of opposition from the Left parties, Nobel Laureate RK Pachauri today said not going ahead with the deal would be a mistake.

Pachauri, whose UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change received the Nobel peace prize along with former US vice-president Al Gore for work on climate change and global warming, said, "We cannot not shut off the option of nuclear energy as it is a tried and tested option for green energy.''

At present, 16 per cent of world's energy was being produced from nuclear sources, he said. "I strongly support the deal (Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement) as it has no downside," he said.

Referring to the ongoing negotiations between India and the International atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over a safeguards agreement that is key to the operationalisation of the deal, Pachauri said, "For procuring fuel for nuclear energy, some technical problems need to be addressed."

Speaking to mediapersons, Pachauri echoed the environmentalists' point of view that nuclear energy was affordable as it did not produce green house gases (GHG) which, over the years, heated the earth's atmosphere and depleted the ozone layer, causing devastating changes in climate.

He, along with Al Gore, addressed the members of Parliament on Friday on the harmful impact of global warming and climate change.

Al Gore, who is visiting India, also met Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh to discuss the nuclear deal. Asked if going ahead with the deal would not lead to the downfall of the UPA government, Pachauri said, "Governments are not important, the country is.''

Pachauri said India was likely to chart out a comprehensive course on action to tackle climate change. He said the prime minister's panel on climate change that was likely to finalise a national policy on the issue in June would give a "multi-sectoral'' dimension to India's efforts to combat the challenge.