Chapter 175: The Press

July 22nd, 2029TG Tower – Media Floor, Press Briefing Room

4:30 PM

It wasn’t a grand hall.

No stage. No velvet ropes. No LED backdrop.

Just a mid-sized briefing room at TG Tower—white walls, acoustic panels, a single podium, a projector screen, and six rows of seats reserved for media, energy analysts, financial journalists, and select university press representatives.

No fireworks.

No cheering.

Just questions, real ones.

At the front table sat five individuals:

TG Energy Systems:

Timothy Guerrero – CEO Engr. Jose Reyes – Chief Reactor Engineer

Government Delegation:

Undersecretary Manuel Salcedo – DOE Atty. Lora de Guzman – DTI, Ease of Doing Business Engr. Feliciano Lim – Senate Technical Committee

To the side—Hana from TG’s public relations, fielding microphone requests.

At 4:32 PM, camera feeds from six major networks began streaming live. Two YouTube channels, three radio stations, and one business podcast were also connected via audio feed.

This wasn’t a promotional event.

It was a briefing.

And everyone in the room knew the difference.

—

Timothy approached the podium.

No prepared speech, just a folder.

"Good afternoon," he began, microphone on but voice steady. "We held the groundbreaking ceremony for Facility One in Bataan this morning. The question is—what does that actually mean?"

He paused—not for effect, but because he was thinking.

"It doesn’t mean reactors are being installed. It doesn’t mean electricity will be generated next year. What it means is—engineering has started. Not design. Not policy. Not paperwork. Construction work."

No hype. Just facts.

He stepped back slightly.

"So today, we’re not announcing progress. We’re explaining process."

That line—journalists noticed.

Because most press conferences were designed to show progress.

This one defined how progress would be built.

—

Hana nodded to the press.

First question: ANC News.

"Mr. Guerrero, critics say you’re moving too quickly. Nuclear is risky and slow by nature. How do you respond?"

Timothy didn’t defend.

He clarified.

"We’re not building reactors. We’re building the environment that allows reactors to be built safely. It’s slow because it should be slow. The fastest way to fail is to rush."

Engr. Reyes added gently, "Our construction schedule does not start with concrete. It starts with soil studies, flood modeling, and cybersecurity routing. If anyone thinks we’re going too fast—they should visit the site. It looks like engineers mapping dirt. Because that’s exactly what it is."

Reporters appreciated the honesty.

It looked unedited.

—

Second question: BusinessWorld.

"How is this project being funded? Is there government backing?"

Timothy answered quickly.

"There is no government subsidy. It is financed through private investment, loan syndication, and energy project development funds. The government provides oversight, not financing."

Undersecretary Salcedo nodded, backing the statement.

"Government’s role is governance—ensuring safety, legality, and compliance. We are not funding private reactors. Our job is to regulate them."

It sounded coordinated.

But it wasn’t rehearsed.

—

Next question—Manila Chronicle.

"People ask—what does nuclear actually mean for their lives?"

This time, Engr. Lim from the Senate answered.

"Nuclear means reliable power. That means factories that do not shut down during brownouts. It means hospitals do not lose power at midnight. It means digital infrastructure becomes possible outside Metro Manila. That’s what it means for people."

He wasn’t selling it.

He was explaining it.

—

Hana motioned again.

This time—an online journalist from an academic energy forum.

"Mr. Guerrero, how will you ensure the public understands nuclear, instead of just fearing it?"

Timothy turned to the crowd.

It wasn’t a corporate answer.

It was an institutional one.

"We’re not going to convince people with ads or slogans," he said. "We will let them visit the training centers. We’ll host Q&A sessions. We’ll show them how fail-safe shutdown works, how passive cooling works, and how radiation shielding works."

He paused.

"People don’t trust what they don’t understand. So we will not ask them to trust. We will help them understand."


And that—made sense.

—

Jose added something rare for an engineer to say at a press conference.

"Real nuclear education doesn’t start in conferences. It starts in classrooms. In the next year, TG Energy Systems, the DOE, and the future NRA will start developing curriculum integration for universities. Not theory—actual field training modules."

The journalists didn’t expect that.

It wasn’t PR.

It was planning.

—

Next question—Philippine Star.

"What about safety? Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island—how do you answer those concerns?"

This time, Timothy did not answer.

He gestured to Jose.

Because that was the whole point of everything they had built so far.

Engineers should answer the technical questions.

Jose adjusted his mic.

"Those incidents happened with older systems. Water-cooled, pressurized, human-dependent. The Hypercore Model A is not that. It uses passive safety. Meaning—if the system fails, it shuts itself down. Not because someone operates it—but because physics forces it to stop."

The room was silent.

Jose continued.

"No steam pressure buildup. No hydrogen explosions. No meltdown. Heat dissipates through natural circulation. Our reactors are designed not to fight physics—but to cooperate with it."

It wasn’t dramatic.

It was calm.

Which is more powerful than drama when talking about nuclear.

—

A well-known TV reporter raised her hand.

"Can you confirm the remark you gave earlier? That one day, the Philippines could export energy?"

Timothy nodded.

"That’s correct. We’re not building small reactors only. We’re building the foundation for grid-linked, expandable systems. One day, with enough stability and excess production... power can be exported through submarine lines to neighboring regions."

Laughter—not mocking, more like surprised.

"But that’s at least ten years away," he added.

"That long?" another reporter asked.

"That soon," Timothy replied.

By 5:30 PM, the conference was wrapping up.

No stage photos.

No PR stunts.

Just departing journalists, engineers, and policy officers exchanging folders instead of soundbites.

As Timothy gathered his notes, Hana approached him.

"Congratulations sir!"

"Why are you congratulating me, we just groundbroke the site," Timothy said.

"Well because sir, I still remember when you ranted about nuclear not being available in the country. Now it was here, fully-owned by you," Hana remarked.

"Is that so? Yeah, I did rant about it. I guess I just have to rant more about the country’s issue and be the one to solve it," Timothy laughed.