1
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,480
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,719
Speaker 2: Last winter, on a windy, chilly morning, Bloomberg's reporter Shoko

3
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:18,520
Speaker 2: Oda arrived in a tiny rural city called Kashiwazaki. It's

4
00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,400
Speaker 2: on the western coast of Japan, surrounded by mountains and rice.

5
00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,720
Speaker 1: Fields, and it's about a two hour bullet train ride

6
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: from Tokyo, and it's known for heavy snow during the winter,

7
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,199
Speaker 1: so there's a lot of ski resorts. The other thing

8
00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,839
Speaker 1: that it's really well known for is really good quality

9
00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,519
Speaker 1: of rice, so there's a lot of sake brewers that

10
00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,520
Speaker 1: are making sake there as well.

11
00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 2: But Shoko wasn't there for skiing or sak tasting. She

12
00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,960
Speaker 2: was invited to tour the world's biggest nuclear power plant,

13
00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:50,919
Speaker 2: known as kk SO.

14
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,360
Speaker 1: KK stands for Kashawazaki Kadiwa, and it's named after the

15
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,040
Speaker 1: two cities that it straddles over, and it has seven

16
00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,520
Speaker 1: nuclear reactors and it's it's also the world's biggest nuclear

17
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,679
Speaker 1: power plant, with eight point two gigabot capacity. If kk

18
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,959
Speaker 1: ran smoothly without any problems at a very conservative maintenance schedule,

19
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,040
Speaker 1: it would produce enough power for roughly thirteen million households

20
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:15,600
Speaker 1: in Japan.

21
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,120
Speaker 2: That's enough to power double the homes in Tokyo. Now,

22
00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,200
Speaker 2: KK doesn't allow electronic devices in its facility, so Shoko

23
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,600
Speaker 2: couldn't record anything, but she walked us through her visit.

24
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,040
Speaker 1: You know, nuclear power plants are one of the most

25
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,400
Speaker 1: highly secured places in Japan. Lots of checkpoints. They also

26
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,039
Speaker 1: give you protective gear. And then we went inside the

27
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,959
Speaker 1: actual reactor. You'd at number seven where we were taken

28
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,120
Speaker 1: to an observation deck and you could kind of see

29
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,800
Speaker 1: through the glass the operating floor where there's a spent

30
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,559
Speaker 1: nuclear fuel pool. That's where they keep the used fuel.

31
00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,720
Speaker 1: There's lots of pipes and wires. Some places are quite small.

32
00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,000
Speaker 1: You have to kind of walk through noks and grannies

33
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,240
Speaker 1: to get to places. You feel like you're getting lost

34
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 1: inside a complete maze, like a labyrinth.

35
00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,600
Speaker 2: Sho goo. What was going through your head as you

36
00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:12,320
Speaker 2: were walking through this power plant?

37
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,840
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, it really hits you when you're inside

38
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,840
Speaker 1: the actual facility itself. Of course you follow the roles

39
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,120
Speaker 1: on the protocol, but you know, it makes me wonder

40
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,600
Speaker 1: sometimes what happens if an earthquake strikes at that point,

41
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,040
Speaker 1: how will we be getting out of the facility? In

42
00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,600
Speaker 1: times like that. So that's something that crosses my mind

43
00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:36,760
Speaker 1: whenever I'm at a nuclear power plant.

44
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,680
Speaker 2: Shoko's worry was once a living nightmare for about one

45
00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,520
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty eight million people living in Japan. In

46
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,960
Speaker 2: twenty eleven, an earthquake hit the east coast of the

47
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,760
Speaker 2: country and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear

48
00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,040
Speaker 2: power plant. That facility is owned by Tokyo Electric Power

49
00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:01,960
Speaker 2: Company or TEPCO, which also owns KK. Fukushima Japan suspended

50
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 2: operations of all its nuclear reactors, but now thirteen years later,

51
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:12,240
Speaker 2: the debate about restarting KK, the world's largest nuclear power plant,

52
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:13,800
Speaker 2: is heating up.

53
00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,200
Speaker 1: I mean, Kashawazaki Katiwa is incredibly symbolic. It's symbolic in

54
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,079
Speaker 1: a sense that it's the last nuclear power plot operated

55
00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,800
Speaker 1: by TEPCO, the company responsible for the Fukushiba Daichi disaster,

56
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,240
Speaker 1: and if this world were to be able to restart,

57
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,399
Speaker 1: I think the Japanese government sees it as a positive

58
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,640
Speaker 1: thing that boosts sentiment to adopt more nuclear power use.

59
00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,280
Speaker 1: So I think the government really is looking at it

60
00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 1: as a critical piece of the puzzle.

61
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm Wanha.

62
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,280
Speaker 2: Every week we take you inside some of the world's

63
00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,440
Speaker 2: biggest and most powerful economies and the markets TAIKUUS and

64
00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,840
Speaker 2: businesses that drive this ever shifting region. Today on the show,

65
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 2: will the world's biggest nuclear power plant get a Second Chance?

66
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,840
Speaker 2: Japan has a relatively long history of developing nuclear power.

67
00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,480
Speaker 2: The country's first nuclear reactor began operating in nineteen sixty six.

68
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,480
Speaker 1: So Japan's always been resource scant. We import a lot

69
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,480
Speaker 1: of our energy needs from abroad. In the nineteen seventies,

70
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,200
Speaker 1: Japan was impacted by the oil shocks. That was one

71
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,640
Speaker 1: of the drivers for Japan then to turn to use

72
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,240
Speaker 1: of nuclear power because they thought that it's important to

73
00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,880
Speaker 1: reduce dependency on imports of energy. So at one point,

74
00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,080
Speaker 1: Japan had a goal to boost nuclear power used to

75
00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,640
Speaker 1: fifty percent of its power box by twenty thirty.

76
00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,520
Speaker 2: With that goal, Japan boasted fifty four nuclear reactors throughout

77
00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,599
Speaker 2: the country in twenty eleven, among the most globally, and

78
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,320
Speaker 2: made nuclear energy a strategic priority, and it worked. At

79
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,359
Speaker 2: one point, nuclear was about a third of Japan's power

80
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,200
Speaker 2: mix until Fukushima.

81
00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,720
Speaker 1: So in March eleven, twenty eleven, there was a massive

82
00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,040
Speaker 1: earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern coast of Japan.

83
00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,919
Speaker 2: Boady seen wipes four meters high, that's thirteen feet. We

84
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,000
Speaker 2: saw houses being swept into rice fields. Then now.

85
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 1: And these tsunami overwhelmed top coast Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant,

86
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,000
Speaker 1: and it led to a power loss and failure to

87
00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,960
Speaker 1: cool down the nuclear reactors there, and it caused a meltdown.

88
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,800
Speaker 1: An evacuation was ordered less than an hour ago for

89
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,920
Speaker 1: residents that live within about two kilometers of.

90
00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:54,080
Speaker 2: A reactor in the prefecture of Fukushima. The Fukushima disaster

91
00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,279
Speaker 2: is regarded as the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in

92
00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,839
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty six. In the aftermath of Fukushima, Japan suspended

93
00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,760
Speaker 2: operations of all of its fifty four nuclear reactors and

94
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,119
Speaker 2: permanently scrapped about a third of them.

95
00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:15,240
Speaker 1: Fukushiba basically changed everything. The disaster really changed Japan's energy policy.

96
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,039
Speaker 1: Japan took all of its nuclear power plants offline to

97
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,800
Speaker 1: chuck for safety, and they also put in place a

98
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,520
Speaker 1: due regulatory framework that requires utilities to follow that process

99
00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:29,960
Speaker 1: before they can bring nuclear reactors back online.

100
00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:35,320
Speaker 2: Since Fukushima. Japan has restarted twelve nuclear reactors and five

101
00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,400
Speaker 2: more are waiting to come back online pending additional approvals.

102
00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:45,040
Speaker 2: That includes two reactors at KK. Shoko spoke with Raphael Grossi,

103
00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,880
Speaker 2: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He thinks

104
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,640
Speaker 2: it's important for Japan to be able to rely on

105
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,240
Speaker 2: nuclear energy again.

106
00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,480
Speaker 1: He thought that Japan has all these nuclear reactors sitting

107
00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,160
Speaker 1: idle in the country, all of that capacity that's wasted,

108
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 1: that's sitting there has potential to lower carbon emissions from

109
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,360
Speaker 1: coal and gas plants, but it's just the restart takes

110
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 1: such a long time and that it just remains there

111
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,640
Speaker 1: collecting dust.

112
00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,920
Speaker 2: Today, Japan relies almost seventy percent of its power mix

113
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,840
Speaker 2: on imported fossil fuel like coal and liquefied natural gas,

114
00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,600
Speaker 2: which makes Japan incredibly vulnerable to the swings in energy prices.

115
00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,880
Speaker 1: So whenever there's a spike in let's say an LNG price,

116
00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,920
Speaker 1: Japanese utilities get impacted. Then the same goes for like coal.

117
00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,080
Speaker 1: On top of that, you know, the yen has been

118
00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,320
Speaker 1: at historic weakness against the dollar, which makes it even

119
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:50,440
Speaker 1: more expensive for utilities to procure energy from abroad. Just

120
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,240
Speaker 1: to give a figure. Japan imported like twenty seven trillion

121
00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,320
Speaker 1: yen of energy last year. That's about one hundred and

122
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,400
Speaker 1: seventy three billion dollars.

123
00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,960
Speaker 2: One hundred and seventy three billion US dollars. That's more

124
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,400
Speaker 2: than what Japan made exporting cars last year. That big

125
00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,800
Speaker 2: energy bill means there's little room for debate on why

126
00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,200
Speaker 2: Japan needs a new way to power its four tillion

127
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:23,160
Speaker 2: dollar economy, and Shoko says the regional wars and conflicts

128
00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 2: in recent years made this need even more urgent.

129
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:31,360
Speaker 1: The invasion of Ukraine really had a big impact. After

130
00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,400
Speaker 1: the invasion, you know, cobodity prices went flying through the roof,

131
00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,760
Speaker 1: and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explained that in order to

132
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:45,080
Speaker 1: achieve energy security but also achieve climate goals because nuclear

133
00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,880
Speaker 1: can provide carbon free energy, the Prime Minister himself said

134
00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,520
Speaker 1: that Japan should restart as video of its reactors as possible,

135
00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:58,160
Speaker 1: so long as it's passed the safety protocols, but also

136
00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:03,040
Speaker 1: look into developing next sedervation reactors and trying to harness

137
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:04,160
Speaker 1: that technology more.

138
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,120
Speaker 2: There are other reasons why Japan wants to harness nuclear

139
00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,000
Speaker 2: power more. For one, it wants to attract more semiconductor

140
00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,400
Speaker 2: manufacturers like TSMC to make chips in Japan, and that's

141
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:21,880
Speaker 2: expected to increase electricity demand significantly. Plus there's also a

142
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,199
Speaker 2: move to revive nuclear power around the world.

143
00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,960
Speaker 1: China has plans to roll out more nuclear power plants,

144
00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,160
Speaker 1: there are talks in the US to try to bring

145
00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,920
Speaker 1: some back online. Even developing countries or looking at nuclear power,

146
00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,920
Speaker 1: including Bangladesh, India. So it's really not just a path,

147
00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,560
Speaker 1: but every other country is looking at atomic energy as

148
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:51,719
Speaker 1: a way to secure energy.

149
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,200
Speaker 2: This year, Japan started a review of its national Energy

150
00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,120
Speaker 2: Strategy to set a target for the country's power mix

151
00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,800
Speaker 2: in the future. The strategy says Japan will aim for

152
00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,280
Speaker 2: nuclear to be up to twenty two percent of its

153
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,320
Speaker 2: power mix by the end of the decade. In fiscal

154
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,920
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, nuclear accounted for just five percent of

155
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,000
Speaker 2: the energy mix, and next month, lawmakers and Nigata, the

156
00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,760
Speaker 2: prefecture where KK is based, will meet and likely consider

157
00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:20,600
Speaker 2: whether to support a restart.

158
00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:25,040
Speaker 1: I spoke with some of these lawmakers and they're very

159
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,480
Speaker 1: wary about restarting KK, and many have said that it's

160
00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,680
Speaker 1: not the right time to be even discussing whether KK

161
00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:34,960
Speaker 1: should be restarted or not.

162
00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,920
Speaker 2: After the break, what it takes to restart a nuclear reactor,

163
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 2: and the challenges ahead Shoko. Earlier, we talked about how

164
00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,600
Speaker 2: Japan wants to restart the world's biggest nuclear power plant

165
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,840
Speaker 2: to tackle soaring energy costs. How do you even go

166
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,959
Speaker 2: about doing that? I mean, obviously it's not like restarting

167
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,040
Speaker 2: a computer. You're not just flipping a switch.

168
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:17,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an incredibly complicated and long winded process. So basically,

169
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,680
Speaker 1: Japanese utilities have to submit a plan to the nation's regulator,

170
00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,400
Speaker 1: and that's submitted to the Nuclear Regulation Authority and they

171
00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,480
Speaker 1: check whether it matches the new framework that came into

172
00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 1: place after the Flukushiba disaster. Once that's approved, it goes

173
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,440
Speaker 1: back to the utility to conduct the necessary safety construction

174
00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,800
Speaker 1: work at the power plant, and then on top of that,

175
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,000
Speaker 1: they also have to gain the blessing of the local

176
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,600
Speaker 1: governor of the town that the nuclear power plant's in.

177
00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,800
Speaker 2: And that blessing from the local governor, it's not even

178
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:54,400
Speaker 2: a legal requirement. Technically, idler reactors just need regulators approval

179
00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,720
Speaker 2: to restart. Companies like TEPCO typically seek consent from the

180
00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,520
Speaker 2: local governor and a STEM, but citizen lawsuits or protests

181
00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,560
Speaker 2: can slow that down. For KK, two of its seven

182
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:12,000
Speaker 2: reactors have passed the required safety protocols. But Shoko says

183
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,800
Speaker 2: local lawmakers and residents in Niganta, where KK is located,

184
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:20,960
Speaker 2: don't seem excited about restarting a nuclear plant in their backyard.

185
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,560
Speaker 1: And the reason for that is Japan saw another earthquake

186
00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:30,360
Speaker 1: on January first, and it happened to take place somewhere

187
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,560
Speaker 1: close to Nigata. It shook quite a lot in Nigatta.

188
00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:36,160
Speaker 1: The lawmakers themselves said that they saw a lot of

189
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,359
Speaker 1: people trying to evacuate, and the roads were getting congested

190
00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,840
Speaker 1: because everyone's trying to evacuate all at once. All of

191
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,840
Speaker 1: this gets compounded, and so they don't think the evacuation

192
00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,319
Speaker 1: plan put in place is adequate enough. They don't think

193
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,080
Speaker 1: the road infrastructure is strong enough. And so I could

194
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,679
Speaker 1: really feel the temperature difference between, you know, the national

195
00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,920
Speaker 1: government that's been very proactive and trying to promote you

196
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,000
Speaker 1: nuclear energy versus the actual local government that's actually dealing

197
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,880
Speaker 1: with the risk of a potential disaster.

198
00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,800
Speaker 2: And even if all these safety concerns are addressed, the

199
00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,439
Speaker 2: residents in Nigata don't actually have much to gain from

200
00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:17,400
Speaker 2: restarting KK.

201
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:23,040
Speaker 1: Tokyo Electric operates KK. That means if Tokyo Electric were

202
00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,640
Speaker 1: able to cut back off fossil fuel imports at lower

203
00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,840
Speaker 1: power bills, all of that benefit goes to people like

204
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,640
Speaker 1: me living in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures. Nigata is

205
00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:38,199
Speaker 1: actually covered by a different utility, and so they don't

206
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,440
Speaker 1: get the benefit of, let's say a lower power bill.

207
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,559
Speaker 1: All they get is just the risks.

208
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,960
Speaker 2: A Bloomberg NEF report forecasts that Tepco could resume operations

209
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,560
Speaker 2: at kk's Number seven reactor as soon as October. For now,

210
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,640
Speaker 2: there's no official target date, and for many Japanese today,

211
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,400
Speaker 2: the memory and trauma of Fukushima still loom large.

212
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,160
Speaker 1: Obviously, Japan is one of the most sizifically active places

213
00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,800
Speaker 1: in the world. You know, every single time there's an earthquake,

214
00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,440
Speaker 1: I as an energy reporter, the first thing that comes

215
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,760
Speaker 1: to my mind is what's the closest nuclear power plant

216
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,560
Speaker 1: to where the earthquake took place? And so it's the

217
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,520
Speaker 1: key sticking point for people when they debate whether nuclear

218
00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:32,880
Speaker 1: is safe or good or not. The Trade Minister once

219
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,680
Speaker 1: said that it takes years and years to gain trust

220
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,760
Speaker 1: and it only takes a second to lose that trust.

221
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,080
Speaker 1: That was his line to TEPCO. To make sure that

222
00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,400
Speaker 1: they know that attentions on them and make sure that

223
00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,760
Speaker 1: they need to do everything they can to gain that

224
00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:49,920
Speaker 1: trust back from the public.

225
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,600
Speaker 2: Shoko. Despite the trauma of Fukushima, it seems that the

226
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,000
Speaker 2: reality and the needs on the ground are making people

227
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 2: think differently about nuclear.

228
00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:03,000
Speaker 1: In Yeah, I think. I mean, it was a very

229
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,720
Speaker 1: traumatizing event for the country, but at the same time,

230
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:13,240
Speaker 1: it's spent thirteen years and public sentiment toward nuclear in

231
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:18,360
Speaker 1: Japad has shifted, especially with the invasion of ukraateive power

232
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,720
Speaker 1: bills going up, people started to kind of warm up

233
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,720
Speaker 1: to the idea of nuclear power because if that means

234
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,200
Speaker 1: lowering fuel imports and lowering power bills, then you know,

235
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:28,680
Speaker 1: why not.

236
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,200
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to The Big Take Asia podcast from

237
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,480
Speaker 2: Bloomberg News. I'm wan ha. This episode was produced by

238
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:47,080
Speaker 2: Young Young Naomi, Jessica Beck, and Alex Sugiera. It was

239
00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,560
Speaker 2: mixed by Blake Maples and fact checked by Naomi. It

240
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,160
Speaker 2: was edited by Bill Ferries and David Stringer. Naomi Shaven

241
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,800
Speaker 2: and Kim Gittleson are our senior producers. Elizabeth Ponso is

242
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,360
Speaker 2: our senior editor, Nicole Beemster is our executive producer. Sage

243
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:06,280
Speaker 2: Bauman is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Please follow and review

244
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,120
Speaker 2: The Big Take Asia wherever you listen to podcasts. It

245
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,040
Speaker 2: helps new listeners find the show. See you next time.