Chubu Electric Leaders to Resign over N-Plant Data Fraud

Nagoya, Sept. 14 (Jiji Press)–Chubu Electric Power Co. said Monday that President Kingo Hayashi and Chairman Satoru Katsuno will step down Sept. 30 to take responsibility for an earthquake risk data fraud involving its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan. Senior Managing Executive Officer Minoru Yasui is set to become the next president. Honorary adviser Akihisa Mizuno will also resign at the end of September, leaving the company’s chairman and adviser positions vacant for the time being. Chubu Electric provided cherry-picked quake vibration data using a method different from what was reported to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for the NRA’s screening needed to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. Chubu Electric also said it would withdraw its applications for the restart of the two reactors, citing serious concerns about its credibility following the misconduct. “There were serious problems with our governance and corporate culture,” Hayashi told a press conference in the central Japan city of Nagoya. He expressed his deepest regret and apologized. Katsuno, who was president at the time of the misconduct, said that he bears “an extremely heavy responsibility for failing to correct” the situation. Prior to the press conference, the company released an investigative committee report pointing out that a corporate culture that allowed misconduct to be justified, criticism and reprimands by company executives over schedule delays, and a lack of communication between management and on-site workers were behind the fraud. “I regret that the way we gave instructions may have put pressure (on employees),” Hayashi said. Meanwhile, he noted that the company “had not given up” on restarting the nuclear reactors, although it would withdraw the applications. Chubu Electric said it plans to rebrand its nuclear power division as a nuclear safety promotion division and strengthen its compliance regime. It will consider more detailed measures to prevent a recurrence of the misconduct and swiftly regain trust. Also on Monday, industry minister Ryosei Akazawa expressed regret over the data fraud and said that he will demand that Chubu Electric carry out management reforms, including recurrence prevention measures, without fail. As the investigative committee report found that the company did not sufficiently respond to multiple reports of misconduct from employees, Akazawa said, “It’s important (for Chubu Electric) to drastically reform the internal whistleblower system.” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that the government’s policy of making full use of decarbonized power sources, including nuclear power, would not change. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]