A Japanese nuclear regulator employee has lost a work-issued smartphone, possibly in China, containing a confidential list of staff contacts, officials and local media reported.
The incident, which came to light this week, occurred amid heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November remarks that Japan might respond militarily if Taiwan were attacked. China considers the self-ruled island part of its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.
According to an anonymous Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) official, the smartphone is used primarily for calls and texts during disasters such as major earthquakes, and not for accessing nuclear data. The device contained the names and contact details of staff in the authority’s nuclear security division—information that is normally kept confidential due to the sensitivity of their work, local media including Kyodo News and the Asahi Shimbun reported.
The employee reportedly lost the phone at Shanghai airport on November 3 while removing items from carry-on luggage during a security check. The missing device was noticed three days later, but efforts to locate it remotely, including locking or erasing data, were unsuccessful, Kyodo said.
The loss comes as the NRA reviews Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) application to restart the world’s largest nuclear plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Japan shut down its nuclear power plants following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, when an earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors to meltdown.
Now, Japan is seeking to revive nuclear energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and meet growing electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence.
