Nuclear energy remains vital for developing countries even after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, India's atomic energy chief told the UN atomic agency's annual gathering on Wednesday.

"The role of nuclear power as a safe, clean and viable source to meet energy needs, as well as to adequately address the concerns of global warming and climate change, cannot be undermined," Srikumar Banerjee said.

"This is all the more so for developing countries and emerging economies, which aim to provide a better quality of life for its people," Banerjee, chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, said in Vienna.

Speaking at the third day of the 151-nation International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s annual general council, Banerjee said that nuclear had caused "far fewer" human casualties than other power-generation methods.

In March Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was shaken and swamped by a huge earthquake and tsunami, knocking out cooling systems and causing multiple reactor meltdowns, in the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Six months later, engineers are still fighting to stop radiation leaking out -- they aim to achieve a stable "cold shutdown" by the end of the year -- and tens thousands of people evacuated are yet to return to their homes.

The disaster caused many countries to re-think their nuclear strategies, with Germany for example deciding to shut down all reactors by 2022, and China ordering safety inspections and suspending approvals for new plants.

But state media in China, which together with India is expected to be the main source of growth in nuclear power in coming years, reported Wednesday that Beijing would resume approvals next year.

The IAEA meeting runs until Friday.

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