Senator Allen: India "will have to go nuclear."

Indian-American blogger Devasish Ray was able to interview U.S. Senator George Allen following his recent trip to India, and the issue of the country's energy future was discussed:

DR: I am glad you brought up the energy issue. During Prime Minister Singh’s visit, President Bush announced that India would receive civilian nuclear technology from the US. Do you support this as presented by the administration?

GA: Yes I do! India of course will have to meet some commitments too in planning a credible and coherent separation of civilian and military power. Having said that, I saw how awful the air quality was in India, at least in some cities I visited. The fact is that India has to import more energy than we have to. The cleanest method of generating energy is either clean coal technology or nuclear. For India to be able to survive and grow as a country they will have to go nuclear.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics, India, U.S. Senator George Allen, Virginia