R.K. Pachauri, whose UN panel on climate change has shared the Nobel Peace Prize, Sunday described nuclear power as an important source of India’s future energy needs. Extending unusual support to him was Communist Party Of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury.
‘Nuclear energy is definitely going to be an important source of energy in the future,’ Pachauri said on the sidelines of a function here.
Backing him, Yechury agreed that it is the future power generator.
‘I am not against nuclear power, three generations down the line, it will be the main source of power,’ he said.
The two experts were sharing the stage after delivering a lecture on UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Citing the example of France, Pachauri hoped that nuclear power can be an affordable option. Nuclear power provides over 75 percent of France’s electricity.
The veteran environmentalist also stressed on the need for increasing the investment in research and development for finding alternative energy sources, especially renewable energy.
The Inter-Governmenal Panel on Climate Change that Pachauri heads shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.
The left parties were bitterly opposed to the civilian nuclear liability bill that parliament passed last month. The bill caps the liability of a nuclear plant operator in case of an accident at Rs.1,500 crore.
