In a sharp critique of the international body, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, R Chidambaram, said the changed orientation of the agency has ``overshadowed the original character of the Agency as a promoter of atomic energy.''

``As we enter the next century and the beginning of a new millennium it would be worthwhile to hark back upon the words of the founding fathers of the IAEA to see whether the Agency has indeed remained faithful to its original mandate,'' Chidambaram told the forty-third IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

Warning that words like ``safety'' and ``safeguards'' were assuming such frightening dimensions, Chidambaram said he was ``worried'' of a situation developing where many countries which urgently need to harness all available options of energy toimprove their living conditions are hesitant to venture into exploring the atomic energy option.

As far back as 1956, the architect of India's nuclear programme, Homi Bhabha, had cautioned that the creation of a safeguards system unrelated to the realities of the world would reduce the Agency from being a positive creative force to a police body.

These warnings had gone unheeded and the Agency's mission of promoting the peaceful uses of weapons surplus material as fuel for nuclear power reactors and also harnessing spin-off technologies had been sidelined.

This is not the first time that India has reminded the IAEA of its original mandate. When the agency was set up, way back in the early fifties, the Agency was guided by noble notions of converting ``swords into ploughshares'' and encouraging developing nations to utilise atomic energy for development.

Year after year, for the last few years, Chidambaram has nudged the Agency about its primary agenda which has been cast by the wayside as the IAEA'sinspectorial role became more pronounced.

Coaxing the Agency to shed its ``diffidence'' about setting up nuclear power plants, Chidambaram said that ``increasingly the (IAEA) Secretariat has become diffident on nuclear power related matters, perhaps influenced by the environment in which it is located, where power generation, having reached a point of saturation, finds it difficult to find support for new nuclear power plants.''

However, while nuclear power may be stagnating in Europe and North America, it is growing fast in Asia and some other parts of the globe which view it as an inevitable energy option, he observed.

It was in this context that Chidambaram cautioned that a situation should not develop where many countries which urgently need to harness all sources of energy ``are hesitant to venture'' into nuclear power sector because they feel frightened by ``safety'' and ``safeguards.''

Referring to India's nuclear programme, he reiterated that India's commitment to global nuclear disarmamentstands undiluted. He underscored India's impeccable non-proliferation credentials buttressed with stringent export control mechanisms that have effectively ensured that no material, equipment or technology exported from India was misused.