Japan’s Chubu Electric bosses resign over quake data-tampering scandal

Two top executives at Japanese nuclear plant operator Chubu Electric Power would step down following a quake data-tampering scandal, the company said in a statement on Monday.

President Kingo Hayashi and Chairman Satoru Katsuno would be replaced, the statement said, and the firm would withdraw applications to restart the Nos 3 and 4 reactors at Chubu’s Hamaoka nuclear plant.

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’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.

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”.