Japan Nuclear Agency Staff Loses Phone Containing Sensitive Data In China

A staff member of Japan’s nuclear safety agency has reportedly lost an official phone containing sensitive information while travelling to China on a personal trip. The device held confidential contact details of personnel linked to nuclear security work, raising concerns that the information may have been exposed.

According to reports, the phone was misplaced on November 3 last year during a security check at Shanghai airport. The employee realised it was missing only three days later and was unable to recover it despite contacting airport authorities. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it cannot completely rule out the possibility of a data breach. The incident comes at a time when Japan is working to revive its nuclear power programme after years of stagnation, as reported by the BBC.

This is not the first security lapse involving Japan’s nuclear sector. In 2023, a staff member at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant lost sensitive documents after leaving them on a vehicle. Another case surfaced last November when an employee at the same plant was found to have copied confidential files and stored them in a desk.

The NRA, set up after the Fukushima disaster to oversee nuclear safety and reactor restarts, said the affected division deals with protecting nuclear materials from threats such as theft and terrorism. The agency has reported the incident to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission. Following the loss, the NRA has instructed staff not to carry agency-issued phones while travelling overseas.