Japan regulator to pause Chubu Electric nuclear power plant review pending report

TOKYO, – Japan’s nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it would order Chubu Electric Power to submit a detailed report on falsified seismic data and pause its review of the utility’s application to restart its only atomic plant. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority had previously warned of a severe response against Chubu Electric, including scrapping the review altogether following revelations it had tampered with data used in the reviews of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Hamaoka plant, located in Shizuoka prefecture on the country’s Pacific Coast.