Iran has said it has serious doubts about the efficacy of a US initiative to create an international nuclear fuel bank for assured supply of nuclear fuel for energy, and would continue processing fuel for its power plants.

"Today, there are no guarantees of an assured supply of nuclear fuel in the world and therefore, Iran has to reach its principal goal (of producing nuclear fuel)," secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said Thursday.

He said international oil and natural gas reserves will be exhausted in the next 30 years. So there is a pressing need for alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy.

In June, the US House of Representatives approved the International Nuclear Fuel for Peace and Non-proliferation Act of 2007, designed to "establish an international regime for the assured supply of nuclear fuel for peaceful means and to authorize contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to support the establishment of an international nuclear fuel bank."

Another goal of the Act is to remove pretexts for countries to build their own uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities, "as these national facilities might have limited security and could serve as fronts for countries to develop nuclear weapons programmes."