July 2016 Regular Press Conference : President Katsuno's Message

• I will begin with our FY2016 first quarter financial results.
• Our consolidated financial results in the first quarter of FY2016 recorded 631.1 billion yen; an 113.1 billion yen decline on a year-on-year basis. This is a result of lighting power charges going down by factors including temperature, fuel price drop caused by automobile-related production decrease, and a fall in fuel cost adjustment.
• The consolidated ordinary income marked 92.6 billion yen, which is a 44.4 billion yen decline compared to the year earlier. This is a result of the shrinking different-timing margin of both fuel adjustment and fuel costs, accompanying the drop in fuel prices.
• Turning to non-consolidated financial results, our operating revenue stood at 588.1 billion yen. This is an 110.1 billion yen decrease compared on a year-on-year basis. 
• Our ordinary income marked 92.1 billion yen; a 41.4 billion yen decline from the year-before period.

(Earnings outlook for FY2016)

• Regarding the earnings outlook for FY2016, the forecasted earnings values announced on April 28 have been corrected to reflect the latest performance trends.
• We expect consolidated sales of 2,610 billion yen, a decrease of around 10 billion yen from the previous announcement due to falling fuel adjustment costs and other factors.
• In terms of consolidated ordinary income, with the shrinking different-timing margin of fuel adjustment and fuel costs accompanying fuel price reductions, we are expecting to see 115 billion yen. This is roughly a 15 billion yen decline from our previous announcement.
• Chubu Electric Power will maintain company-wide efforts to streamline our management, and work to meet the expectations and trust of customers and society alike.

• I now turn to safety enhancement measures at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station.
• By embracing a resolve to constantly improve the safety of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, Chubu Electric Power has been engaging in initiatives to enhance Hamaoka Station’s seismic resistant tolerance. This effort predates the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
• In the wake of the Fukushima accident, we immediately embarked upon works such as tsunami countermeasures and steps for securing power supplies or coolants.
• Works in progress at Hamaoka were partly revised in October 2014 in light of how the plants of other utilities, at which reviews on compliance were taking place ahead of Hamaoka, were being reviewed.
• We also announced that the works for Units 3 and 4 are expected to complete at around September 2017 and September 2016, respectively.

(Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Units 3 and 4)

• Regarding countermeasure works for Unit 4, major engineering projects we decided as necessary and launched accordingly in the wake of the Fukushima accident are to complete roughly around this September.
• These initiatives will bolster key functions for safety enhancement measures, including power supply, injection, and heat removal.
• Some of the projects, meanwhile, will be maintained from September and onwards. This is a result of reviewing work details in light of field conditions, and changing designs based on issues discussed at other operators’ or our review meeting.
• Moving on to the examination concerning Unit 4’s compliance with new regulatory requirements, 70 review meetings have thus far been staged after our application in February 2014.
• As for seismic resistance- and tsunami-related examinations amongst the compliance confirmation review, the NRA is now examining fault activities both within and without Hamaoka Station sites. Matters on fault activities are a condition for the examination on design basis ground motions/tsunami, which serve as standards for the seismic and anti-tsunami design of nuclear power stations.
• The ongoing equipment review can be broadly divided into the following two: 
  • Measures against events assumed when designing equipment. Examples include loss of power, fire, or natural phenomena such as earthquakes and tsunamis
  • Measures to prevent severe accidents from occurring/developing in the event of having lost the above steps
• Chubu Electric Power is currently having its equipment examined together with other boiling water reactor operators.
• We cannot, at the moment, specify when the works for safety enhancement measures will finish, as new knowledge and developments on examinations might result in the need to rearrange or add works. 
• The work schedule will be announced when we gain an outlook from the progress of the examination.
• We will continue to reliably push forward the ongoing work and cooperate sincerely with the examination at Hamaoka Units 3 and 4, and thereby do our best to ensure the two reactors are deemed compliant with new regulatory standards as soon as possible.

(Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Unit 5)

• The equipment integrity assessment for Unit 5, conducted in the wake of the May 2011 sea water inflow event, finished in December 2015.
• Some of the components require repairs or replacements, but we see no challenge in restarting the Unit.
• Chubu Electric Power will maintain its considerations on new regulatory requirement-based measures and prepare to apply for examinations on Unit 5’s compliance with the new requirements.

(Summary)

• Embracing our strong commitment to preventing any events similar to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, Chubu Electric Power will continue to make unremitting efforts for safety.
• This points not only to equipment measures for Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station but to the consistent strengthening of on-site responses as well, with such examples as preparing emergency response schemes and harnessing training initiatives to step up field response capabilities.
• In a drive to boost the effectiveness of our assistance towards local resident evacuations and other emergency preparedness fronts, we will also strive to reinforce ties between national and local governments and thereby elaborate on nuclear emergency-geared offsite responses in the Station’s neighboring areas.
• By illustrating these initiatives to the local area and society at large in a readily understandable and thoroughgoing fashion, Chubu Electric Power will seek for understanding toward our operations. 

• Before ending my remarks, I would like to share about the public hearing held on July 27 with NRA members.
• This was the second occasion for Chubu Electric Power to host a public hearing following last March, but the first time for me to take part.
• In the event I spoke about the following topics related to Hamaoka Station’s initiatives for higher safety:
  • Boosting risk management
  • Risk communication initiatives 
  • Relationship with external organizations
  • Emergency response scheme
• In terms of risk reduction initiatives, maintaining risk-lowering efforts is crucial—as risks are ever-present—in addition to complying with the new regulatory requirements. I described the concrete initiatives Chubu Electric Power is taking toward this end.
• As an example of our risk management efforts, I presented Chubu Electric Power’s efforts to build up the competence of nuclear power station technicians, maintain the PDCA cycle to lower station risks, and that our management in turn receives reports on the outcome and issues instructions where necessary.
• Another topic I touched on was our risk communication initiative involving the local area and the society at large. This effort is underway amid the diversifying perception concerning nuclear power and radiation risks harbored by residents after the Fukushima accident.
• We will stand together with local residents, address their concerns and anxieties in earnest, and hammer out ideas together. Through these undertakings, we seek to lay the groundworks for a relationship of trust and deepen the understanding of one another.
• I also spoke about Chubu Electric Power’s ties with the Japan Nuclear Safety Institute (JANSI), the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), and other external organizations serving to higher safety. I shared our evacuee support efforts in the event of emergencies as well and accident recovery activities, which are issues I presented previously in the press conference this April.
• NRA Chairman Tanaka made a favorable remark regarding my presentation, commenting he obtained a good understanding of how Chubu Electric Power is continuing its efforts through drills and in many other fronts amid the reactors being suspended from operation. Yet, he also stated wide-ranging requests and opinions such as amplifying communication between the headquarters and the field, providing other operators with insights obtained through the decommissioning process underway at Hamaoka, and how to approach dry storage facilities.
• With regard to the review of compliance with new regulatory requirements, he stated that:
  • “Considering the severe siting conditions of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, it is inevitable for us to focus on earthquake- or tsunami-related issues,” and,
  • “Chubu Electric Power must steadfastly identify risks, and share with NRA well-planned earthquake and tsunami countermeasures geared to Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station. This will in turn define both design basis ground motions/tsunamis.”
• I responded to his statement by noting that Chubu Electric Power seeks to act by asking for advice from the NRA and deepening discussions by providing, in the examination process, thorough explanations about our earthquake/tsunami countermeasures.
• The opinions NRA members provided at the public hearing will be embraced in earnest and harnessed for our future initiatives, and we will accordingly exert further efforts toward higher safety.
• That concludes my remarks for today.