Japan scandal-hit nuclear plant operator head to resign: reports

The president of a Japanese nuclear plant operator will step down following a quake data-tampering scandal, local media reported Monday, with the firm expected to abandon plans to restart two reactors.

Japan is moving to revive nuclear power 15 years after an enormous earthquake and tsunami sent reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.

Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka nuclear plant -- located in an area of central Japan at risk of a potential "megaquake" -- has been undergoing regulatory safety checks, with the aim of restarting two reactors.

But in January, the operator said that it had submitted data to regulators that underestimated earthquake risks.

Public broadcaster NHK and other local media said that President Kingo Hayashi and Chairman Satoru Katsuno will step down.

The company is reportedly holding a press conference later in the day. The firm was not immediately available for comment.

A 250-page report by an independent panel, released on Monday, said the management's "reprimand" over delays in the restart review had created pressure on staff, and was "one of the factors contributing to the misconduct".

The Nikkei business daily reported that the company will withdraw its application for the review process.

Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima atomic plant.

However, the resource-poor nation now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.

The world's biggest nuclear plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, restarted operations earlier this year.

The estimate of maximum seismic ground motion is important for the earthquake-resistant design of nuclear plants.

In September 2023 the Nuclear Regulation Authority approved Chubu's estimate of 1,200 gal, a unit of acceleration used to measure the intensity of quakes.

But in February last year the NRA received information about possible data fraud from a whistleblower.

The NRA suspended its safety review process for the Hamaoka plant in late December.

The plant is located in Omaezaki, Shizuoka prefecture, near a seismic fault line where a massive Pacific earthquake is expected to occur in the coming years or decades.

In 2024, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first special advisory for a possible "megaquake" in the area, known as the Nankai Trough, before lifting it a week later.