Abdul Kalam backs controversial N- deal

{image-abdul kalam_26062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Bangalore, Jun 26: The Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, which has so far failed to convince the Left parties to go ahead with the nuclear deal with the US, got a boost with former President A P J Abdul Kalam saying that the deal was important to ensure continuous supply of uranium.

''We need continuous supply of uranium till our thorium reactors are ready. Hence, the nuclear deal with the US will help us,'' he told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function here. Delivering the inaugural address at the three-day international conference on Aerospace Science and Technology organised as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Aerospace Laboratories, he said the country's ambitious Moon mission was extremely important to map the alternate sources.

''As increasing thermal power generation will lead to environmental problems, we should tap hydel, solar, nuclear and biofuel resources to meet our future energy needs. So, we have to see what we can get on the Moon, especially thorium-3, which can bring a lot of benefits to the country,'' he said.

Mr Kalam said the country should use the Moon mission as an interim platform for the future mars mission. ''In the future, we should be looking at Earth, Moon and Mars as a single complex for the human race. Hence, Moon has an important message to give.'' ''It may be water or an energy source, we need a new habitat.

Moon can give us helium-3, which is important for future power generation. So, Moon mission is important in this context,'' he added.

UNI