Anil Kakodkar, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission

IANS | 22 Apr, 2008
India's domestic politics will decide the future of the Indo-US nuclear deal and future negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Anil Kakodkar, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, here Monday.

"It is now up to the politicians to decide the next course of action of the nuclear deal and as I am not a politician, I would not be in a position to say when it would take final shape," Kakodkar told reporters.

"To gain something, we have to sacrifice something. There is no free exchange of atomic energy worldwide," he remarked.

Kakodkar, who had been representing India at the IAEA, came here Monday to address an awareness programme on prevention of cancer.

"The domestic efforts are on to meet the domestic programme and requirement and if international inputs and resources are available so much the better," the AEC chief pointed out.

"If you have shortage of oil, you have to import it from outside to met domestic requirement."

Kakodkar said that if India got outside support and the ongoing programmes continued unhindered, the country would be able to generate 1,300 GW (1 GW is equivalent to 1,000 MW) electric power by 2050.

According to him, India generates 4,000 MW electric power from nuclear sources.

He said nuclear technology and resources were being used not only to generate power but also to improve agriculture, health and industry.

"We are facing dual challenges of shortage of energy and climate change and to meet these challenges more research and development (R&D) works urgently needed."