Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was reconsidering nuclear energy for Israel because of the crisis over radiation leaking from a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant.
"I don`t think we are going to pursue civil nuclear energy in the coming years," Netanyahu said in a CNN interview airing later on Wednesday. Netanyahu said he had been a lot more enthusiastic about nuclear energy in the past than he is now.
Uncertainty over how the Japan crisis will play out is a "cloud" hanging over the world, he said.
"It certainly caused me to reconsider the projects of building civil nuclear power plants," he said in a transcript of the interview.
Netanyahu said Israel could make up the difference with natural gas it has discovered offshore.
"So, I think we`ll go for the gas," Netanyahu said. "I think we`ll skip the nuclear."
Bureau Report
