Japan's nuclear regulator has halted the screening process required to restart Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station due to inappropriate handling of seismic data. The utility admitted to using a method different from what it explained to regulators for selecting seismic waves. The move stalls efforts to resume operations at the plant, which has been idled since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
On January 7, 2026, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) announced it was halting the screening needed to restart Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, following the utility's report of inappropriate seismic data handling for the regulatory review. Located on Japan's Pacific coast in Shizuoka Prefecture, the plant's two reactors have been idled since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, even as nuclear plants elsewhere in the country have resumed operations.
NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka told a regular commissioners' meeting, "This is fabrication of critical inspection data, which I clearly consider misconduct." He added, "There appears no objection to halting the review" for the Hamaoka plant's restart.
Chubu Electric disclosed on Tuesday that it had used a different method than explained to regulators to select seismic waves for the review. The revelation caused the company's shares to tumble nearly 10%, the steepest drop in more than 13 years. This incident underscores the stringent oversight in Japan's nuclear restart processes and raises questions about corporate governance in the utilities sector.
