Japan Returns to Nuclear Energy

Japan Returns to Nuclear Energy

Japan Returns to Nuclear Energy

Twelve years after one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, Japan is looking to reappraise the benefits of what advocates say is a cheap and stable energy source. Stephen Stapczynski reports on Bloomberg Television.
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Content

0 -> Susan, tell us about what you learned through the course of this report.
6.21 -> You know, I think one thing to remember is that there are few countries that
10.8 -> have experienced what Japan has experienced.
12.17 -> 12 years ago, the Fukushima disaster shut the nation's 450 for operating
17.46 -> nuclear reactors. They had to depend on fossil fuels
19.08 -> overnight. And there was a widespread disdain for
22.53 -> nuclear energy because a chunk of the Fukushima prefecture had to evacuate
27.12 -> through the reporting from my colleagues in Tokyo.
29.3 -> They spoke to some of the folks who had to evacuate, have gone back to the towns
33.53 -> since the radiation levels have dropped. And overall, they've found that while
41.07 -> there is still a view that nuclear power is dangerous and should be taken very
47.07 -> seriously, there is also a view that in the midst of the energy crisis and
51.24 -> rising power bills and security concerns, especially since Japan depends
54.33 -> on LNG, that perhaps nuclear is one of the futures for the country, a country
60.45 -> like Japan that is is very dependent on overseas energy suppliers and has no
67.71 -> natural resources. Nuclear can make sense, according to the
70.62 -> analysts that we spoke to, if it's done safely and for all intents and purposes.
75.99 -> Japan has 33 operable reactors, but only a third of them have restarted under a
80.7 -> new post, Fukushima safety rules. The government sees this and Prime
84.39 -> Minister CAC has pushed forward a bold plan to not only restart these reactors,
88.77 -> but build new next generation of reactors over the course of the next few
94.17 -> decades as they try to hit carbon neutral by 2050.
97.41 -> It's a large story. It's interesting.
98.81 -> You're already seeing this anti-nuclear shift in Japan kind of swing back to
103.14 -> kind of accept nuclear in the short term.
106.47 -> Yes. Even though I was living in Japan during
109.26 -> the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster and covering
113.04 -> that story was amazing, I wouldn't have been able to imagine that the tide would
117.96 -> turn. Just 12 years later.
119.42 -> I do wonder, though. Tell us a little bit more about the
122.94 -> opposition, because you're talking about domestic opposition.
125.55 -> There's been a lot of controversy about the release of radioactive water around
131.07 -> Japan, even now from Fukushima, from neighboring countries as well.
138.3 -> Absolutely. You know, that just to say that there
141.03 -> has been a swing back and the public does support nuclear when you look at
143.46 -> the polls. It's just by a tiny margin before when
146.64 -> nuclear. Only about 30 percent of the country
148.62 -> supported restarting nuclear reactors. Now we're just about 50 percent.
151.92 -> So it is about half and half. So there is a large portion of the
155.53 -> country that doesn't support restarting reactors now.
158.61 -> The Fukushima disaster, because of the nature of it, is producing a lot of
163.83 -> radioactive water that is treated every day.
164.86 -> Water is streaming into the wrecked reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.
169.29 -> And because all that water is being produced, they treat it.
172.93 -> And now they don't know what to do with it because they're running out of space
175.41 -> to store it. So one of the things that the government
178.41 -> and TEPCO wants to do is release it into the water.
181.77 -> It is slightly radioactive there, still tritium in it.
184.44 -> It's a normal released done by the rest of the world.
187.24 -> But it is raising concerns not just by neighbors, but also islands across the
193.65 -> Pacific that are worried that it could affect them.
195.72 -> There's also fishing groups in the Fukushima prefecture that they want to
200.61 -> get back to work. They don't want to be tainted if there
204.24 -> is this water release. They're worried that perhaps the
207.57 -> reputation of fish from Fukushima will again be hit and their business could be
213.33 -> affected. So there is still a strong anti-nuclear
217.26 -> movement, but it has faded compared to where we were about a decade ago.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE97mPkCtzI