The government may consider nuclear power generation if the price of oil goes over 100 dollars a barrel, Science and Technology Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis said in a report today.

Malaysia's nuclear agency said earlier this month that the country needed at least two reactors as an alternative means of generating electricity to fuel the country's rapidly growing economy.

Jamaluddin said Malaysia would not immediately take up the option, but that the situation could change in the future.

"The world is changing. Who would have thought oil could hit 70 dollars a barrel," he said, according to The Star daily.

If oil went over the 100 dollar mark, state energy firm Tenaga Nasional "will have no choice but to increase its tariff or go bankrupt", he said.

The minister said that switching to nuclear power generation could then become a matter of economic survival.

Jamaluddin noted that Vietnam had plans to switch to nuclear power, and that Malaysia has asked Japan to share its experiences in managing nuclear energy.

"We have more than 60 nuclear scientists and we want Japan to share with us their experience," he told the daily.