Prague: European nuclear leaders launched a call here today for measures to ensure the revival of atomic energy in the face of soaring oil prices and concerns over global warming.

At a two-day European Commission-sponsored forum in Prague, officials and government leaders said real steps had to be taken to put nuclear power back into the energy mix.

"We are more and more dependent on oil and gas imported from unstable parts of the world at high price," warned the host of the second European Nuclear Energy Forum, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

"We have come to a time today where we must do more than talk about nuclear energy," he said, warning: "It is really five minutes to midnight."

Nuclear energy seemed assured of a strong future in the 1960s but serious accidents at Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979 and then Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986 sparked public unease and led to a scaling back of the industry.

Some countries, such as Germany and Italy, opted to close down their nuclear power generation but as oil has hit record breaking highs, government have revisited the issue.

Italy today announced that it planned to begin building next generation nuclear power stations within five years having closed down the industry in 1987 following a referendum.

Britain also recently announced a major new drive to increase its nuclear energy resources.

One of the main demands of nuclear power s backers is that it be given recognition as "a low carbon or non-emissions sector," similar to renewable sources of power, Topolanek told AFP in the margins of the forum.

Source : PTI