00:0218-year-old Hashimoto Takuma is rearing to go on this cold February day at the starting line of a
00:08marathon through his hometown of Iwaki in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture. Events like this show how
00:13far the region has come since March 11th 2011. That day a massive earthquake followed by a
00:19historic tsunami devastated the area. Unlike most of the runners today though, Hashimoto has only
00:28brief flashes of memory about the catastrophe. He was only three at the time, around when this photo
00:34was taken. No images of the many people dragged out to sea, no recollection of the meltdown at the
00:41Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that followed, forcing 150,000 from their homes, many never to
00:47return. Hashimoto in fact is studying nuclear energy, a sign of a turning of the generational wheel and a
00:56reckoning with a world that is much more unstable than it was in 2011.
01:04There was indeed an accident 15 years ago, but after going to the sites, talking to specialists,
01:10and seeing things myself, I don't think nuclear power should be treated as inherently dangerous.
01:15I think it should be considered as one of the options for future energy.
01:19And while opposition persists, Hashimoto is not an outlier. Popular support for nuclear power is
01:26surging, now reaching a narrow majority of 51%, according to a recent survey. Much of that is
01:32driven by young people under 30. The shift is producing results. Japan relaunched the biggest
01:38nuclear plant in the world, Kashiwazaki Kariwa, in January. And more could be restarted,
01:44after pro-nuclear Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's resounding snap election win last month.
01:50Support may be far from universal, but as one former disaster official, charged with counting the
01:55dead in Fukushima says, times have changed.
01:58So after 15 years, people start to face realities. And reality means increasing energy prices and
02:07geopolitical uncertainty, such as the Ukraine crisis. So most of the people, while we have
02:15some protests here, as you see, but most of the people here in Japan came to realisation, OK,
02:22this security, energy, security is important.
02:26That security is now under threat, as the war in the Middle East expands.
02:31Japan gets 95% of its oil supply from the region, now virtually blocked off amid the fighting.
02:37And Japan's need for energy to power future data centres will only grow.
02:42But it's not just Japan rethinking nuclear power. Taiwan's plan to go nuclear-free, under the
02:48leadership of the Democratic Progressive Party, did go ahead on schedule. But as Taiwan faces an
02:53energy crunch, even the current DPP administration has suggested embracing new nuclear technologies.
03:03Europe also appears to be reversing course. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said
03:09Tuesday that a third of Europe's electricity came from nuclear plants in 1990, but that's now down to
03:15around 15%. She called it a, quote, strategic mistake, one she plans to reverse amid volatility in fossil fuel supplies.
03:25We need to mobilise investment. And today I can announce that we will create a 200 million euro guarantee
03:35to support investment in innovative nuclear technologies.
03:40And so, while the crisis in Japan on March 11, 2011 prompted a push away from nuclear power,
03:46the crises of 2026 are now driving opinion in many parts of the world in the opposite direction.
03:53Andy Xie and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
03:57Andy Xie and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
03:57Andy Xie and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
03:58Andy Xie and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
03:58Andy Xie and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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