Washington: Noting that India, China and the US are facing similar challenges on the energy front, a senior Bush administration official has said nuclear power is a 'very key component' in meeting the growing energy needs of the developing nations and the world of the future.

"We strongly believe that in order to meet the growing appetite of the world, particularly the developing world, nuclear power is a very key component to meeting the needs of the developing world and the world of the future," Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy Karen Harbert told reporters.

She said USD 20 trillions will be needed in investments in the field between now and 2030. "Of this USD four trillion will be heading the way of China and an estimated USD 1 trillion to India".

She was giving a presentation on the recent trip to China of the Energy Secretary Sam Bodman for the Strategic Dialogue and pariticpation in an Energy Ministerial consisting of the United States, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

"We have improved greatly the technology that is available.It is increasingly proliferation resistant, certainly emissions free technology which is important to an economy like India which has been blessed like coal just like China and the US but it has environmental concerns," she said.

"And so China, India and the US have also agreed to collaborate on a project like FutureGen which is, if successful, the first emissions free coal fired power plant.

"It will be built here in the US but the governments of India and China have said they would join. It would completely revolutionise the way that electricity is generated in countries by coal," Harbert said.