Kalpakkam (PTI): The Indo-US nuclear deal would liberate India from a technology denial regime since 1974 enforced after the country first tested its nuclear device and pave the way for "two-way traffic of exchange of inventions and discoveries," a top nuclear scientist said on wednesday.

M R Srinivasan, former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), said the deal would help India import Light Water Reactors (LWR) and ensure continued supply of enriched uranium.

Talking to reporters here after participating in the silver jubilee celebrations of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Srinivasan said the nuclear isolation period from 1974 helped India build its own ability in the field.

"Developed nations have realised India is on the path of building a robust nuclear technology in strategic and civilian fields and therefore it makes no sense for us to be kept out", he said.

Srinivasan said operationalisaton of the deal would make India a global nuclear player, enabling it to invest in nuclear technology in other countries as well as help setting up such facilities in "friendly countries." "We can build and maintain nuclear reactors which will net us a lot of revenue. In that regard, the deal is an important step," he said adding the 70,000-strong workforce of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was prepared for this task.

With India having a mismatch of supply and demand of uranium, it was imperative that the country clinched the deal, he said adding it would also relieve the burden of too much dependence on petroleum products "whose reserves are dwindling," leading to skyrocketing prices of the same.