TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it is scrapping the safety screening for two reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan, after its operator was found to have fabricated data about earthquake risks.
It was a setback to Japan's attempts to accelerate nucler reactor restarts. Less than a quarter of commercial nuclear reactors are operational in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, but rising energy costs and pressure to reduce carbon emissions have pushed the government to prioritize nuclear power.
Chubu Electric Power Co. had applied for safety screening to resume operations at the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Hamaoka plant in 2014 and 2015. Two other reactors at the plant are being decommissioned, and a fifth is idle.
The plant, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Tokyo, is located on a coastal area known for potential risks from so-called Nankai Trough megaquakes.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it started an internal investigation last February, after receiving a tip from a whistleblower that the utility had for years provided fabricated data that underestimated potential seismic risks.
The regulator suspended the screening for the reactors after it confirmed the falsification and the utility acknowledged the fabrication in mid-December, said Shinsuke Yamanaka, the watchdog's chair. The NRA is also considering inspecting the utility headquarters.
“Ensuring safety is the first and foremost responsibility for nuclear plant operators," Yamanaka said, adding that seismic data was clearly fabricated. “It is outrageous and it's a serious challenge to safety regulation.”
The scandal surfaced Monday when Chubu Electric President Kingo Hayashi acknowledged that workers at the utility used inappropriate seismic data with an alleged intention to underestimate seismic risks. He apologized and pledged to establish an independent panel for investigation.
The screening, including data that had been approved earlier, would have to start from scratch or possibly be rejected entirely, Yamanaka said. The NRA will decide on the case next week, without waiting for the utility's probe results, he said.
Public opinion in Japan remains divided due to lingering safety concerns after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns.
Of Japan's 57 commercial reactors, 13 are currently in operation, 20 are offline and 24 others are being decommissioned, according to NRA.
This aerial photo shows Hamaoka nuclear power plant, owned by the Cubu Electric Power Co., in Omaezaki, central Japan, March 26, 2025. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)
The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to ground all flights nationwide for several hours Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams scrambling to reach their destinations in time for games this weekend.
Transportation officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centers for the stoppage. It left some professional sports teams searching for hotel rooms, college teams were left to reschedule flights, and some teams had even taken the extraordinary step of chartering buses rather than waiting for the ground stop to end.
“We're going to allow for general aviation, those larger movements, to take place as a priority. Smaller movements will take lower priority,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday night. “If you're talking about football teams moving, many of those are charters, and there's a lot of individuals on those charter planes, so I would encourage those football teams to reach out to the FAA to schedule those flight times, so they can move and make sure we have games going off tomorrow.”
Most college football teams playing Saturday travel the day before their game, and the stoppage left many schools — including No. 2 Utah, eighth-ranked Texas and No. 9 Tennessee — at a standstill as they departed for road games. The Utes play at No. 22 Arizona, the Longhorns visit No. 24 LSU and the Vols are traveling to Texas A&M in three of the bigger games of the weekend.
“The Southeastern Conference is aware of the FAA's nationwide ground stop and the potential impact on team travel,” the league said. “We are in close communication with our member institutions to assess potential disruptions and coordinate appropriate responses.
"The safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches and team personnel remain our highest priority.”
The Longhorns posted on social media a short video of them boarding their plane before the groundstop began. If they ended up busing to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the trip for the 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff against the Tigers on Saturday would take about seven hours.
Tennessee spokesman Bill Martin likewise said the Vols had returned to campus and were waiting for more instructions, while Auburn opted to take a bus to Mississippi State and Purdue did the same from West Lafayette, Indiana, for its game at Iowa.
Other schools affected by the stoppage included No. 19 Ole Miss, Baylor, Washington, Kansas State and Minnesota.
“The Big 12 Conference is evaluating potential changes to Saturday’s football schedule,” the league said. "The conference will continue to monitor the travel disruptions alongside its member institutions and provide updates for Saturday’s games.”
Washington spokesman Kurt Svoboda said the team returned to campus and was awaiting directives from the FAA and Big Ten for its game at Michigan State. The team also was in touch with its Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines partners and its flight crew remained in place.
Florida State was playing at Pittsburgh on Friday night, while Illinois was visiting fourth-ranked UCLA and No. 14 Houston was visiting Colorado. Those teams would typically fly home immediately after their games but now could be searching for hotel rooms.
It also was unclear whether referees, who typically fly to their assignments the day before games, would make it on time. The Big Ten said in a statement that all of its officials had arrived for their scheduled games Saturday.
Several teams were able to take off before the stoppage began, including all of those traveling in the Atlantic Coast Conference; Missouri, which was flying to top-ranked Georgia; Duke, which was visiting fifth-ranked Miami; and No. 10 Texas Tech, which posted on social media images of its arrival for a game at Oklahoma State.
NFL teams playing Sunday typically travel the day before their games, and they were expected to fly as planned on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Nets were among five NBA teams scheduled to fly Friday for games Saturday. They had just boarded the team plane in New Orleans after playing the Pelicans earlier this week when their flight to Memphis was halted in place.
The Pistons flew earlier in the day to Miami. The Cavaliers, Bulls and Grizzlies play Friday night and were due to fly afterward.
The Cavaliers played in Miami on Friday night and were scheduled to play the Mavericks at home on Saturday. Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said about 90 minutes before tip-off that his team was scrambling to find hotel rooms for Friday night, just in case.
“It’s part of it. You just adapt,” Atkinson said.
There are 14 scheduled games in the NHL on Saturday. The Panthers were among the majority that made it to their destinations before the stoppage began, but the Sharks were left waiting in San Jose to see whether they would be able to travel to Utah.
JuJu Watkins and her third-ranked Southern California teammates were trying to get to South Carolina for their game Sunday against the top-ranked Gamecocks. The team had just boarded its flight at Los Angeles International Airport when the ground stop was issued. After a while, the decision was made to deboard passengers and the team returned to the Galen Center.
AP Sports Writers Jim Vertuno, Aaron Beard, Tim Reynolds, Larry Lage and Beth Harris contributed to this report.
See AP’s full sports coverage here
People walk past a flight board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Arlington, Va., after the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Aircraft are seen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Planes sit on the tarmac at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in DFW Airport, Texas, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
