“We reached our conclusion based on a very strict examination,” NRA chairperson Shinsuke Yamanaka told reporters.

The verdict comes after more than eight years of safety reviews that were repeatedly disrupted by data coverups and mistakes by the operator, Yamanaka said. He called the case “abnormal” and urged the utility to take the result seriously.

The decision is a blow to Japan Atomic Power because it virtually ends its hopes for a restart. The operator, which is decommissioning its other reactor, Tsuruga No. 1, had hoped to put No. 2 back online, but it would require an examination of dozens of faults around the reactor to prove their safety.