 Hello and welcome. We're coming to you live from Vienna on the last day of our Fukushima conference We've been looking at improvements in nuclear safety over the last 10 years Today we are lucky to have our director general with us, Raphael Mariano Grossi. Welcome DG and thank you for joining us. Hello. Good to see you So firstly, I think the first question the public really wants to know Especially now with nuclear offering to help us get to net zero carbon emissions when compared to other energy sources Is nuclear power safe? Well, I think the track record is very clear about this It is also obvious that the three accidents but mainly Fukushima and Chernobyl Occupied a lot of the public attention But when you look at the real records of in terms of the safety in terms even of the accidents and their Consequences and when you compare them with with other industries and other activities you see that it fares extremely well There was also some debate at COP last week over the number of radiation related deaths that occurred caused by the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant What do you say to people who believe that thousands died from radiation? Well, I would say the same that I said there And again, it has to do with perceptions and realities when you look at the real facts and what really happened there You see that there were no discernible negative health Effects after the accident and this is following not only our own Assessments or the assessments of the Japanese but also the United Nations scientific committee of the effects of atomic radiation Made up of the world's most recognized experts in the field So these are the facts, but of course we live in a world where perceptions also shape public opinion and There had been and we are trying to set the record straight in this regard There have been an image of Thousands of people who would have died because of the accident, which is completely wrong So I think here the the only and the most logical and reasonable way forward is to show the facts to point to the sources and to continue in this way trying to Clarify things in a calm and I would say reasoned manner and What actually went wrong at Fukushima? So and why wouldn't it go wrong again? What have we learned from this accident? Well What went wrong has been documented and discussed At length in places like this and also in Japan and we have here the IEA produced and published A number of publications and volumes of information about this What basically what went wrong is that the safety? Guidelines and and standards that had would have applied in terms of tsunami Protection were not followed. We're not observed so One would assume that having gone through that experience and of course also not it's not only a matter of willingness or or or trying to repent and do better and after after that a major overhaul of the nuclear regulatory system in Japan was introduced with a Fully independent regulatory Institution that now is looking into these and making sure that these standards that existed at that time are applied So, how do we know that nuclear safety is better globally now than before the Fukushima accident? Well, I think The the the normal evolution of these activity and nuclear safety Is is part of that? again The the accident has played a role Into this because it made people focus in a very dramatic way into the consequences and what had wrong to try to to improve it so After ten years and hence the the the reason also for this conference It was not to mark an anniversary and by the way, there was nothing to celebrate. We are Taking stock of what has been done all the actions that were launched at that time whenever something like this happened happened People may see or decide to do certain things, but you don't know Whether these are going to take place in the real world or not The fact is that there were there were a number of initiatives all over the world stress tests new directives considerable strengthening of Nuclear regulators and here we are comparing notes and and by the way, we don't do it We don't do this every ten years. It's the ongoing work of the agency to have this Very I would say close and permanent contact with the regulatory world with the nuclear safety and security community to make sure that this This strength and measures are implemented and what still needs to be done to further improve nuclear safety Well, this has been discussed this week, and I was following this these deliberations with a lot of interest I believe that There are a number of areas there technically speaking but one that I would like to to stress And perhaps what we are doing you and I here Now is a little bit part of that and it has to do with the communication. I think Communication before was faulty and and and perhaps incomplete Communication today needs to adapt because with the communicating tools of Yesterday here. We are not going to make it now because we live in the world of the instant news We live in the world of the social networks. We live in the world where everyone can make the news and fake news included So in that in that context To have a nuclear safety discourse and message which is consistent is a big challenge So we are making we are putting a lot of effort behind this kind of approach trying to talk to the communication experts your colleagues, but in the safety Institutions all over the world to make sure that there is this agility this ability to respond quickly To events the bureaucrats sometimes are not keen to this and and attuned to this to this reality So this is an area where we will have to make sure that we are out there giving the public the necessary information and assurances and Finally this accident had a negative impact on the development of nuclear power globally and probably set back the world's race to Net zero carbon emissions as a result. Do you see this trend is finally changing ten years later? Well, I think we we see that very clearly in that all over the world the The big challenge for everybody is to find the adequate Energy mix that is going to make to make it possible for all of us to decarbonize This is not an easy an easy thing and people are Realizing how important Nuclear is and has been and here again I would refer to the communication aspect because for many people It's so it's simply not known what nuclear signifies here today and now Let alone what nuclear could achieve for all of us, so Indeed we see this trend. We see it very clearly in Europe We see more clearly even in Asia where most of the new builds Taking place. We see it in Africa where three or four countries are very seriously looking into this We see it in the United States. We see it to a certain extent as well in Latin America. So It's a global trend Trends are trends. We have to see how much of that firms up But the all the indications are Pointing in that direction Thank you Thanks to everyone for listening Please tune in again later for a live press conference on this topic with the director general at 3 30 Vienna time. Goodbye