Giving up nuclear energy not an option for India

India’s Prime Minister said India’s situation is far different from that of Fukushima.

Manmohan Singh said it would be harmful if India gave up nuclear energy as an additional source of electricity.

“We are not in a situation in which Japan is . . . 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 as an additional source,” he told the Lower House of Parliament.

India has 19 functioning nuclear reactors and there has never been any nuclear incident, Singh noted.

“And even after Fukushima, I ordered a complete revisit to all the 19 reactors. Those findings of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited are on the websites for everybody to see,' he said.

He stressed there would be no compromise on the issue of nuclear safety. He said the government is of the view that when it comes to questions of safety, there should be no compromise whatsoever.

“Our safety measures are an open book . . . 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. That we will never compromise with,” Singh said.

The Prime Minister said the government would never do anything that creates doubts about the safety of nuclear plants.