Two top executives at Chubu Electric Power resigned Monday after revelations of manipulated earthquake risk data at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, forcing the company to abandon plans to restart two reactors.
President Kingo Hayashi and chairman Satoru Katsuno stepped down, with Hayashi expressing “a heavy sense of responsibility and profound regret” for failing to foster a culture of compliance and safety.
The Hamaoka plant, located in Shizuoka Prefecture near a seismic fault line, has long been considered vulnerable to a “megaquake.” In January, the operator admitted submitting data that underestimated earthquake risks. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) suspended its safety review in December after a whistleblower flagged possible fraud.
An independent 250‑page report released Monday found management pressure contributed to the misconduct, citing reprimands over delays in the restart review. Chubu Electric confirmed it will withdraw its reactor restart applications.
Japan largely abandoned nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but the government is now seeking to revive reactors to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, meet rising energy demand from artificial intelligence, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The world’s largest nuclear plant, Kashiwazaki‑Kariwa, resumed operations earlier this year.
