BEIJING - The development of the global nuclear power industry could stall for a year of two if Japan's nuclear crisis proves seriously destructive, said an industry expert from the Energy Research Institute, the think tank of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

"But the crisis is unlikely to derail global development of nuclear power stations because nuclear power is still the trend in the energy industry," said Xiao Xinjian, a nuclear industry expert at the Energy Research Institute affiliated with the NDRC.

"It is an effective way to provide clean energy and fight climate change."