Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reiterated the need for nuclear power but said the country will not compromise on the safety of atomic plants.

"It would be harmful for the country to pass an ordinance on denial of nuclear power. We must keep the option of having nuclear power as an additional source of energy open," the Indian prime minister told the Parliament.

Singh, however, said that there would be no compromise on the safety of nuclear power plants.

His response came in the wake of a question by a Member of Parliament on whether India would do a rethink on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan following which both Japan and Germany have announced they would give up atomic energy.

The prime minister made it clear that after the Fukushima accident in March 2011, he ordered a complete review of all the 20 operating nuclear power reactors across the country and none of them reported any incident.

"Our view is that when it comes to safety, there will be no compromise," he said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency