The Hamaoka review has reached a turning point after Chubu Electric Power decided to withdraw restart applications for two nuclear reactors and replace its top leadership. The September 14 board decision followed an investigation into earthquake data submitted for regulatory scrutiny. Chubu said doubts about the reliability of its materials made it inappropriate to maintain the existing applications for units 3 and 4. Company announcement.
The immediate consequence is a planned withdrawal of applications already years into the approval process. Chubu said it would submit the necessary documents to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority once preparations were complete. The decision also covers unit 4's construction plan and operating safety rules. Rebuilding confidence in the information used in the Hamaoka review will fall to a new president.
How the Hamaoka review reached this point
Chubu submitted unit 4's application on February 14, 2014, seeking confirmation that it met Japan's new regulatory requirements. It submitted unit 3's application on June 16, 2015, while unit 4 was already being examined. Those original notices show the duration of the process now being unwound: both applications date back more than a decade. Unit 4 filing; unit 3 filing.
The data at issue concern earthquake vibration, a foundation of the safety assessment. Jiji Press reported that Chubu selected data using a different method from the one disclosed to the regulator. Its reporting places the plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, in central Japan. The Hamaoka review is the regulatory screening required before the two reactors can restart. Jiji Press.
Chubu disclosed the problem in January 2026 and received the investigation committee's report on September 11. In his September 14 statement, President Kingo Hayashi acknowledged that management had failed to identify and correct problems despite repeated internal warnings. He also described the committee's criticism that technical specialization had made effective scrutiny within the organization difficult. The failure extended beyond the preparation of individual documents to the company's supervision of that work. Hayashi's statement.
New leadership, with continuing company ties
Hayashi and Chairman Satoru Katsuno are scheduled to leave their leadership posts on September 30. Senior Managing Executive Officer Minoru Yasui will become president on October 1, while the chairman's position remains vacant for the time being. The changes accompany the Hamaoka review decision and are presented by Chubu as a response to management's responsibility. Personnel announcement.
The outgoing leaders will retain company connections. The personnel appendix lists both men in special advisory arrangements beginning October 1. Yasui is also an established Chubu executive: the published biography records his arrival in 1988, later power-generation roles and subsequent work in group strategy. The leadership plan therefore changes who runs the company while assigning the recovery to someone with a long history inside it.
What changes after the Hamaoka review failures
The proposed reforms target how employees raise concerns and how managers test technical work. Chubu plans to strengthen nuclear governance and quality assurance, introduce outside perspectives into key positions and use external advisers in internal audits. It also proposes a reporting channel to the audit and supervisory committee, independent of executive management, alongside stronger use of outside lawyers to assess serious complaints. Reform plan.
Those proposals answer specific weaknesses described in the plan. Chubu says earlier internal reports in 2019 and 2021 failed to produce adequate investigation and correction. For the Hamaoka review, a functioning reporting system would need to bring disputed technical information to people able to examine it independently. Whether the redesigned arrangements achieve that will depend on their implementation; the published plan is the company's proposed response.
Chubu still intends to pursue fresh applications after addressing its organizational and working practices. Hayashi described restoring local confidence as the immediate priority and defended nuclear power's role in meeting energy needs. The Hamaoka review now leaves the company with linked tasks: completing the withdrawal paperwork, putting promised controls into operation and explaining the basis for any future submission. His statement supplies no reapplication timetable. Company's next steps.
Reporting note: Japanese company records were checked against Jiji's English reporting. Corporate explanations and promised reforms remain attributed to Chubu, consistent with The Civic Wire's editorial standards for distinguishing statements from independently established results.