Chubu Electric Suspected of N-Plant Data Fraud Cover-Up

Tokyo, July 1 (Jiji Press)--Chubu Electric Power Co. overwrote data after a regulatory investigation into its earthquake risk data fraud involving its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, the secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday.

"We suspect there was a cover-up," NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka told a press conference.

The nuclear watchdog instructed its secretariat to investigate whether Chubu Electric executives were involved in the matter. It plans to decide its response to the scandal as early as this summer, after confirming the details.

"We take it extremely seriously and apologize again from the bottom of our hearts," the company said in a statement.

Chubu Electric used a method different from what was reported to the NRA to estimate a maximum seismic ground motion that the plant could experience, during the nuclear watchdog's safety screenings crucial for the restart of the plant's No. 3 and No. 4 reactors.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]