Papers Blown Off Car Threaten to Keep Nuclear Plant Shut (1)

A week after Japanese regulators postponed the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant due to safety lapses, a careless employee working from home added to the company’s woes.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan’s Niigata prefecture, said an employee placed a stack of documents on top of a car before driving off and losing them.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture.

Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg

The mishap is the latest in a string of mistakes for the utility and is likely to further erode the regulator’s confidence in Tepco. Safety lapses and a strict regulatory process have stopped Japan ...