Chubu Electric Execs Rapped Officials over N-Plant Screening Delay

Tokyo, Sept. 14 (Jiji Press)–Chubu Electric Power Co. executives had criticized engineering division officials over a delay in regulatory screening of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan, according to a report released by the company Monday. Some Chubu Electric departments are suspected of underestimating possible earthquake vibrations in data submitted for the regulatory screening needed to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. The report, written by an investigative committee of outside lawyers, said that the criticism may have prompted officials of related departments to engage in the misconduct. The committee also found that Chairman Satoru Katsuno, then president, had been informed of a decision not to respond to a whistleblower who raised concerns internally in 2019. Although not recognizing that Katsuno had readily approved the decision, the report said that he should have made a more careful judgment. Also on Monday, Chubu Electric said that it will withdraw its applications for the screening for both reactors and that Katsuno and current President Kingo Hayashi will resign. In 2017 and later, some members of the company’s management criticized and rebuked officials over the delay in the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s screening process, saying that the development was “totally different” from the outlook presented by nuclear plant engineering personnel and that the process was being delayed “simply because the company’s efforts have been insufficient,” according to the report. Through such remarks, executives effectively “demanded responses to problems that were difficult for Chubu Electric to resolve on its own,” the committee also said. “It cannot be denied that this led relevant staff to adopt a policy of not disclosing information that could be pointed out as problems by the NRA, in order to avoid blame,” the committee also said. Meanwhile, the committee did not recognize that the management had instructed staff to engage in the misconduct. As a cause of the misconduct, the committee cited a tendency among some Chubu Electric workers and groups to dismiss criticism that might obstruct objectives they regarded as very important. Staff engaged in the improper acts while justifying them as the right things to do, the report said. For the NRA screening for the two reactors, Chubu Electric provided cherry-picked earthquake ground motion data using a method different from what was reported by the company to the NRA. The NRA’s Secretariat was informed of the misconduct through an external tip-off. After it started interviews with Chubu Electric in May last year, the company tried to conceal the misconduct, including by rewriting data. Chubu Electric disclosed the scandal in January this year. The company commissioned the committee to determine the facts, identify the causes and recommend measures to prevent a recurrence. The NRA is also investigating, including through on-site inspections of the company. Chubu Electric applied for the screening of the Hamaoka plant’s No. 3 and No. 4 reactors between 2014 and 2015. The plant stands in an area expected to be severely affected by a possible Nankai Trough quake off the Pacific coast of central to southwestern Japan. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]