Japan to review safety of nuclear power plant whose operator falsified data

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) will re-examine the safety of a nuclear power plant in the central part of the country after its operator admitted falsifying data on earthquake resistance. The Kyodo news agency reported this today.

Chubu Electric Power announced on Monday that it had selected only favourable ground-motion data when setting earthquake-resistance standards for the Hamaoka nuclear power plant. The company said it did so to make it easier to pass the tests required to bring the plant back into operation. According to Kyodo, however, this led to an underestimation of the risks of a potential earthquake. The complex is located in Shizuoka Prefecture on the Pacific coast.

“These were obvious errors and falsification of inspection data directly related to safety,” the NRA chair said, describing the situation as extremely serious.

The operator has already established an independent committee to investigate the matter.

The incident is a significant setback for the government, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a stable energy supply. It wants to achieve this by bringing nuclear reactors back into operation under stricter safety rules introduced after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March 2011. Japan shut down all 54 nuclear reactors then operating in the country at the time, and has since resumed operations at at least 14 reactors.

Hamaoka is attracting considerable public attention amid growing concerns about nuclear safety because it is located above the source of potential tremors in the Nankai Trough. The utility is seeking to restart Units 3 and 4 there, but according to one NRA commissioner, this plan is unlikely to proceed for now.