A Japanese power company is once again embroiled in a fraud scandal. This time, the problem has spread from the review of the restart of nuclear power plants to operations related to decommissioning reactors.
According to a report by the Japanese Economic News on August 27, Chubu Electric Power admitted on that day that during the decommissioning operations of Units 1 and 2 at the Shizuoka Prefecture's Hamakawa Nuclear Power Plant in 2024, some removal work reports were tampered with, involving at least 14 instances of violations. Relevant personnel “made” the work that had not yet reached the planned progress into the reports, and submitted it to the organization responsible for managing decommissioning funds—NuRO.
The demolition work at Units 1 and 2 of the Higashi-Oka Nuclear Power Plant was originally behind schedule. Chubu Electric said that in some of the projects, someone falsified copies of the project reports submitted by the contractors, altering the numbers of equipment removed and waste disposed of. These false data were then submitted to NuRO, which did not match the actual situation.
In July this year, NuRO discovered that the storage and handling amounts of dismantled items did not match the reported data, and raised concerns with Chubu Electric Power. Investigations were initiated by Chubu Electric Power in early August, and as of the 26th, at least 14 instances of violations had been confirmed. Since the funds for managing the nuclear plant’s waste reactors are managed by NuRO, Chubu Electric Power received 1.1 billion yen from this organization in 2024. It is possible that some projects that have not yet been completed have also received corresponding payments.
Regarding why the data was tampered with, the head of the Central Power Nuclear Department, Tsuka Fumiho, admitted at a press conference on the 27th that the company believes "it was not done by one person alone." He also stated that since the project was not completed as planned, there might be an intention among relevant personnel to alter the data in order to make the results match the plan. Central Power will hire external lawyers to continue the investigation.
What also concerns Japanese public opinion is that there was another data manipulation at the Hiroshima Nuclear Power Plant. In January of this year, Chubu Electric Power admitted that in order to facilitate the restart of Units 3 and 4, the company manipulated relevant data, deliberately underestimating the maximum destructive power of possible earthquakes. As a result, the review for the restart of those units had to be started over again.
Himaoka Nuclear Power Plant is located in an area that is expected to be affected by major earthquakes in the South China Sea trough. It is also the only nuclear power plant under the control of Chubu Electric Power. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the plant was required by the Japanese government to stop all operations. Among them, Units 1 and 2 have been decided to be decommissioned.
According to the Japan Economic News, while the issues related to the resumption of censorship for data manipulation have not been fully resolved, violations have also been discovered in the operation of the waste furnaces. This means that the corporate governance issues of Chubu Electric Power will face even more severe scrutiny.
