Chubu Electric to Face On-Site Probe over N-Plant Data Fraud

Tokyo, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority decided Wednesday that its secretariat will conduct an on-site inspection of Chubu Electric Power Co. over the company’s data fraud regarding earthquake risks at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant. The inspection is expected to target Chubu Electric’s headquarters in the central Japan city of Nagoya. The power plant located in the central prefecture of Shizuoka may be subject to the probe if necessary. Also at the day’s regular meeting, the nuclear watchdog approved the scrapping of its screening of the power plant for a possible restart, in the wake of the data scandal. In addition, the NRA will issue an order for Chubu Electric to report back on the details of the data fraud under the nuclear reactor regulation law, with the deadline set for the end of March. The company will face punishment if it refuses the order or makes false statements. The authority plans to urge other power companies to prepare appropriate documents for the NRA’s reactor screenings. At his regular press conference Jan. 7, NRA chief Shinsuke Yamanaka said the watchdog’s secretariat should conduct an on-site probe into Chubu Electric. He also showed the need to redo the Hamaoka plant screening. According to Chubu Electric, it had explained to the NRA that it adopted a method in which the average value of multiple seismic waves calculated under different conditions is taken as the representative wave for the authority’s screening of the Hamaoka plant. The company, however, used a different method in and before 2018 to pick the representative wave, and intentionally designated a seismic wave different from the average value as the representative wave from around 2018. Chubu Electric may have underestimated the seismic ground motions that the plant could experience. The NRA became aware of the issue in February last year as a result of whistle-blowing. Chubu Electric admitted its wrongdoing last month and made it public on Jan. 5 this year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]