But Sir David King says we should at least begin to discuss it as part, and still a minor part, of the climate change policy debate.

BBC: A quick fix for global warming

Former government chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, said the summit had come one year too early for Mr Obama to be able to take leadership of the issue.

BBC: Copenhagen climate deal is 'an important start'

Sir David King, Tony Blair's chief scientist, recently argued that one further generation of nuclear power stations is needed (in Britain at least) to buy time, in order to keep down emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, while new carbon-free non-nuclear technologies are developed.

ECONOMIST: Nuclear power