India: Renouncing nuclear power will hurt nation: Manmohan

TNN | May 17, 2012, 12.58AM IST

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday rejected suggestions that India should follow Germany and Japan in renouncing nuclear power, saying do so will be harmful to India's interests.

Fielding a question on atomic energy in Lok Sabha on Wednesday morning, the PM pointed to India's safety record and said there would no compromise on this front. He said he had ordered a comprehensive review of India's nuclear plants after last year's Fukushima disaster in Japan.

"I would respectfully submit that it would be harmful for the country's interest to pass an ordinance of self-denial that we shall give up the option of having nuclear power," he said.

The PM stood up in the midst of MoS in PMO V Narayanasamy answering questions relating to atomic energy that is under the PMO and his intervention in the background of protests against the Kudankulam nuclear plant by anti-nuclear groups is significant. As the plant prepares to go on stream, the PM has indicated the government will not roll back or curtail its ambitious nuclear power programme.

Seeking to allay concerns raised by MPs, he said, "We will never do anything which creates doubts about the safety of these units. As my colleague (MoS in PMO V Narayanasamy) has already mentioned, we have 19 functioning nuclear reactors and there has never been any incident."

Singh pointed out that "even after Fukushima, I ordered a complete revisit to all the 19 reactors. Those findings of NPCIL are on the websites for everybody to see...But, at the same time, I would respectfully submit that we must keep the option of having an additional source of power."

"So, I think, the policy that we have right now is that we must do everything in our power to ensure foolproof safety of the nuclear plant," he said.