TOKYO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's nuclear regulator on Wednesday criticized the operator of a nuclear power plant in central Japan for alleged falsification of earthquake data, calling the incident extremely grave and serious, local media reported.
Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) chief Shinsuke Yamanaka said at a meeting that this is a case of fabricated inspection data that directly relates to safety, and it is clearly a misconduct, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The incident involves the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture operated by Chubu Electric Power Co., which has been seeking the regulator's permission to restart them.
The NRA will suspend its inspection of the Hamaoka complex for its possible restart, Yamanaka said.
The nuclear watchdog will discuss at its next regular meeting on Jan. 14 whether it should seek a report from Chubu Electric or have its secretariat conduct an on-site probe, the report said.
On Monday, Chubu Electric said its employees may have used intentionally selected data for a potential earthquake in quake-resistance tests at the plant to pass the regulatory screening for restart. ■