But among policy makers, there’s no confusion. The climate here and the absence of coal, oil and natural gas make nuclear power a reliable alternative.

In energy-guzzler Finland, nuclear power meets one-fourth of domestic energy needs and this is expected to rise well above 30% in the next few years. Energy firms Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) and Fortum are being tasked to assess the environmental effects of a possible sixth reactor. To the Finns, nuclear power is the “window to the future” though they have been working hard on renewable energy sources.

Yet the Finnish government doesn’t want to comment on the India-US civilian nuclear deal. At least, not yet.

“We are following it very closely. We understand India’s position, her needs but there are issues related to non-proliferation. It’s also a political issue. We don’t want to be misunderstood, so we don’t wish to comment at this stage,” said a senior official of Finland’s Foreign Ministry.

Finland is in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) whose member countries are being approached by the Indian government to mobilize support for the nuclear deal. Finnish President Tarja Halonen was in New Delhi this January and its Minister for Trade and Development will also be in India next month.

To the Finns, as they try hard to bond better with India, the Indo-US nuclear deal is a somewhat awkward issue. Because it is not lost on anyone here that the NSG was born because India went nuclear in 1974 and now, three decades later, the same NSG is being told to bend the rules for India.