Review of nuclear plant halted due to falsified seismic data

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on January 7 suspended a safety review of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant after concluding that operator Chubu Electric Power Co. had deliberately downplayed the risk of an earthquake there.

“This is a violation of safety rules,” Shinsuke Yamanaka, head of the Natural Resources Authority, said at a news conference. “The review itself needs to be re-implemented.”

Chubu Electric revealed on January 5 that it used inappropriate data on estimating “standard ground motion” during a safety review of reactors No. 3 and 4 at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Standard ground motion represents the maximum possible shaking from an earthquake. A nuclear plant must be designed to withstand such vibrations, making assessments critical to safety.

At its meeting on January 7, the NRA determined that Chubu Electric was involved in fraudulent activity, noting that earthquake data had been arbitrarily manipulated using a different method than described in the audit.

“This is a case of fabricating safety audit data. It is very serious and dangerous,” Yamanaka said.

He ordered the nuclear industry watchdog to respond independently without waiting for the results of Chubu Electric's internal investigation into the matter.

Inspections loom

At its next meeting on January 14, the NRA will consider demanding a statutory report and conducting a nuclear regulatory inspection that includes on-site access to Chubu Electric's headquarters and the Hamaoka plant.

These inspections are mandatory and carry penalties if cooperation is refused.

Koshun Yamaoka, the Natural Resources Authority commissioner responsible for reviewing earthquake and tsunami data, criticized Chubu Electric for reporting smaller seismic waves.

“They manipulated the graphs to make their data look plausible,” Yamaoka said. “Compared to research misconduct, this amounts to fabrication or falsification. This is serious and fundamentally overturns the premise of the review.”

NRA Commissioner Reiko Kanda also criticized Chubu Electric for an act that “wasted national funds.”

“We invested human resources and conducted our review in good faith,” Kanda said.

NRA Commissioner Tomoyuki Sugiyama said the safety review should remain on hold until the reliability of Chubu Electric's data can be guaranteed.

“I am extremely disappointed. Although we have temporarily suspended the review, there is no way we can resume it,” he said.

High risk site

All reactors at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Omaizaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, have been shut down at the request of the central government following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Reactors No. 1 and 2 are currently being decommissioned, while Chubu Electric aims to restart reactors No. 3 to 5.

The company submitted a request to review reactors No. 3 and 4 in 2014 and 2015.

The nuclear plant is located within the assumed epicenter of the Nankai Basin earthquake, which means it requires strict seismic resistance.

Standard ground motion assessments are based on surveys of active faults, ground conditions, and other geological features.

A higher rating would increase the cost of safety measures needed to increase seismic resistance in a nuclear plant.

During the 2011 disaster, tremors from the earthquake exceeded prevailing standards at the site of Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which experienced a triple meltdown.

The NRA in 2023 deemed Chubu Electric's standard ground movement at the Hamaoka plant “generally adequate.”

But in February last year, the NRA received information from an outside source that Chubu Electric was involved in fraudulent activity, prompting it to ask the company to submit materials and provide an explanation.

The utility conducted an internal investigation and told the NRA on Dec. 18 that it had “confirmed fraudulent activity.”

The false statements became public on January 5.

Anger in Shizuka

Local leaders and officials from Umezaki, the station's host municipality, also had harsh words for Chubu Electric.

“The premise of review under the new regulatory standards has collapsed,” Shizuoka Governor Yasutomo Suzuki told reporters on January 7. “It is a very unfortunate event and causes a loss of confidence.”

“I will be closely monitoring its future initiatives, including reforming the corporate culture,” he added, citing a series of scandals at the company.

He also said he would seek clarification from Chubu Electric after receiving a report from an external panel investigating the false statements and would petition the central government for guidance.

Umezaki Mayor Masaru Shimomura said it would be difficult to restart the plant without the trust of the region.

“If the reliability of the data provided itself is shaken, everything will be shaken,” he said in a press conference on January 6.

The mayor said he refused to accept the annual New Year greetings from Chubu Electric.

The reaction to the falsification of the data was equally strong from municipalities within the station's 31-kilometre emergency evacuation zone.

At a press conference on January 6, Fujieda Mayor Shuhei Kitamura said that if the act was intentional, it was a “major betrayal of our citizens.”

Shimada Mayor Kinuyo Sumiya said on the same day that the false statements “shake our confidence in Chubu Electric to its very foundations.”

“The national energy policy aims to actively promote the restart of nuclear power plants, but this will delay that policy,” Somya said.

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